Delineating non-consensual sexual image offending: Towards an empirical approach

Abstract

The topic of non-consensual sexual images has become an increasingly important issue within the social policy landscape. Social and legal scholars have advocated for these behaviours to be designated sexual offences due to the mode of perpetration of these behaviours, but are explicit in their rejection of a sexual element being important in the motivations underpinning such behaviours. However, this rejection is inconsistent with the core theoretical models related to sexual offending. In this article, we outline some of the potential psychological concepts that may help us to understand how and why people engage in a range of non-consensual sexual image offences, such as revenge pornography, upskirting, deepfake media production, and cyber-flashing. In doing so, we aim to begin to bridge the gap between legal scholars and psychological scientists, and develop a more comprehensive and theoretically coherent approach to studying this important social topic.