More than half of teens ages 12–17 don’t know what sextortion is, despite nearly 1 in 5 reporting they experienced it as minors. New data from Thorn shows sextortion often involves demands for more images, in-person meetings, or ongoing relationships, and increasingly includes deepfake images. Awareness, clear definitions, and knowing where to get help are critical for prevention and response.
In anticipation of Valentine’s Day approaching soon, we released an encore podcast called Talking to Your Teen About Sex: Advice for Parents. Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Today, my blog looks at a harsh reality some teens face regarding their intimate selves. Photos or videos of them nude or partially nude, or fake images like these, are sometimes used against them.
The data was collected through an anonymous survey from September 2024 through October 2024 by Thorn, an organization working to end child sexual abuse. The report also surveyed youth ages 18 to 20, but I have excluded that data here.
I am talking about sextortion.
A report released this past summer found that over half of 12 to 17 year olds did not know what the term meant.
That is why I am sharing additional findings from the report, as a way to help adults bring this topic up with youth in their lives so they can be better prepared if negative situations arise.
This past summer, the well respected organization Thorn released a report based on surveys of young people about their experiences with sextortion. Here are some of the key findings:
Boys: 58%
Girls: 58%
Only 34% of boys said they had heard the term, with 8% saying they were not sure.
Only 33% of girls said they had heard the term, with 9% saying they were not sure.
“Sexual extortion, threatening to expose sexual content depicting someone if the individual does not yield to demands, is a form of technology facilitated sexual exploitation that can result in severe harm to victims. Like other forms of abuse, there is no one way that sextortion occurs. However, across extortion tactics, technology is regularly used to facilitate the abuse.”
In simple terms, sextortion is threatening to expose sexual images of someone if they do not do what the person threatening them wants.
The research found that number one demand is for more images (39%) and then “demand in-person meeting (31%), then came “made relationship demands, like staying in a relationship” (25%) and then came “Demanded money” (22%) (this data included the 18,19 and 20 year olds)
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“Do you know anyone, not including yourself, who has had this experience while they were under the age of 18? By sexual image, we mean a picture or video, real or fake, that shows the person nude or mostly nude.”
Boys: 15%
Girls: 26%
“While you were under the age of 18, had anyone ever threatened to share a sexual image of you with another person or post it online in order to make you do something? By sexual image, we mean a picture or video, real or fake, that shows you nude or mostly nude.”
Boys: 19%
Girls: 21%
Of those who reported being victims of sexual extortion, 1 in 8 said they were threatened with a deepfake made of them.
Thorn has a website page dedicated to helping youth called:
Sextortion: What to do if someone is blackmailing you with nudes.
Here I share the bullet points from that page:
If you or your friends are being threatened or “blackmailed” online, here’s what you can do:
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Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
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Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
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In anticipation of Valentine’s Day approaching soon, we released an encore podcast called Talking to Your Teen About Sex: Advice for Parents. Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Today, my blog looks at a harsh reality some teens face regarding their intimate selves. Photos or videos of them nude or partially nude, or fake images like these, are sometimes used against them.
The data was collected through an anonymous survey from September 2024 through October 2024 by Thorn, an organization working to end child sexual abuse. The report also surveyed youth ages 18 to 20, but I have excluded that data here.
I am talking about sextortion.
A report released this past summer found that over half of 12 to 17 year olds did not know what the term meant.
That is why I am sharing additional findings from the report, as a way to help adults bring this topic up with youth in their lives so they can be better prepared if negative situations arise.
This past summer, the well respected organization Thorn released a report based on surveys of young people about their experiences with sextortion. Here are some of the key findings:
Boys: 58%
Girls: 58%
Only 34% of boys said they had heard the term, with 8% saying they were not sure.
Only 33% of girls said they had heard the term, with 9% saying they were not sure.
“Sexual extortion, threatening to expose sexual content depicting someone if the individual does not yield to demands, is a form of technology facilitated sexual exploitation that can result in severe harm to victims. Like other forms of abuse, there is no one way that sextortion occurs. However, across extortion tactics, technology is regularly used to facilitate the abuse.”
In simple terms, sextortion is threatening to expose sexual images of someone if they do not do what the person threatening them wants.
The research found that number one demand is for more images (39%) and then “demand in-person meeting (31%), then came “made relationship demands, like staying in a relationship” (25%) and then came “Demanded money” (22%) (this data included the 18,19 and 20 year olds)
“Do you know anyone, not including yourself, who has had this experience while they were under the age of 18? By sexual image, we mean a picture or video, real or fake, that shows the person nude or mostly nude.”
Boys: 15%
Girls: 26%
“While you were under the age of 18, had anyone ever threatened to share a sexual image of you with another person or post it online in order to make you do something? By sexual image, we mean a picture or video, real or fake, that shows you nude or mostly nude.”
Boys: 19%
Girls: 21%
Of those who reported being victims of sexual extortion, 1 in 8 said they were threatened with a deepfake made of them.
Thorn has a website page dedicated to helping youth called:
Sextortion: What to do if someone is blackmailing you with nudes.
Here I share the bullet points from that page:
If you or your friends are being threatened or “blackmailed” online, here’s what you can do:
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel! We add new videos regularly and you'll find over 100 videos covering parenting advice, guidance, podcasts, movie clips and more. Here's our most recent:
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In anticipation of Valentine’s Day approaching soon, we released an encore podcast called Talking to Your Teen About Sex: Advice for Parents. Listen Here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Today, my blog looks at a harsh reality some teens face regarding their intimate selves. Photos or videos of them nude or partially nude, or fake images like these, are sometimes used against them.
The data was collected through an anonymous survey from September 2024 through October 2024 by Thorn, an organization working to end child sexual abuse. The report also surveyed youth ages 18 to 20, but I have excluded that data here.
I am talking about sextortion.
A report released this past summer found that over half of 12 to 17 year olds did not know what the term meant.
That is why I am sharing additional findings from the report, as a way to help adults bring this topic up with youth in their lives so they can be better prepared if negative situations arise.
This past summer, the well respected organization Thorn released a report based on surveys of young people about their experiences with sextortion. Here are some of the key findings:
Boys: 58%
Girls: 58%
Only 34% of boys said they had heard the term, with 8% saying they were not sure.
Only 33% of girls said they had heard the term, with 9% saying they were not sure.
“Sexual extortion, threatening to expose sexual content depicting someone if the individual does not yield to demands, is a form of technology facilitated sexual exploitation that can result in severe harm to victims. Like other forms of abuse, there is no one way that sextortion occurs. However, across extortion tactics, technology is regularly used to facilitate the abuse.”
In simple terms, sextortion is threatening to expose sexual images of someone if they do not do what the person threatening them wants.
The research found that number one demand is for more images (39%) and then “demand in-person meeting (31%), then came “made relationship demands, like staying in a relationship” (25%) and then came “Demanded money” (22%) (this data included the 18,19 and 20 year olds)
So what is pornography, and how do we talk with our young people about this prickly topic? Every time I sit down to write about this, I feel a bit of sadness and, frankly, disbelief. It’s hard to accept that we’ve created a society where youth can be just a click away from all sorts of highly explicit sexual material. And yes, parental controls and blockers can help, but the internet is everywhere, and chances are, they will see things somewhere. But we have to talk about it.
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In today's blog I introduce and give a brief summary of my recent podcast conversation with Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD, psychologist and author of Sexism and Sensibility, where we spoke about many topics such as how to raise girls with fierce ambition and critical awareness of gender inequality without making them feel disheartened? And how we can help boys understand the hidden costs of rigid masculinity without shaming them into silence?
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A parent recently told me how upset she was because her teen’s sports team posted something inappropriate in their social media group. Today I share my advice to the mom about ways to handle such a situation.
READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
