When harm to a child involves numerous forms of abuse, it can be difficult to understand and manage what’s happening and why, let alone find the right words to describe it.
This is the case with a type of abuse – often referred to as ‘sextortion’ – which spans sexual abuse and exploitation, financial exploitation, online abuse, fraud and blackmail.
In this blog, we explore why using the term ‘sextortion’ may obscure professional understanding of this issue and outline how rethinking our language choices can help us to engage with and support children and young people affected by this form of abuse.
What does ‘sextortion’ mean?
‘Sextortion’ refers to a form of blackmail that involves the threat to distribute intimate, sexual images of someone unless that person meets certain demands.1 Demands might include paying money, sending more images or videos, performing sexual acts or staying in a relationship.2
When children and young people are targeted, they may be coerced into sharing images or videos of themselves online. They may also be sent AI-generated nude or semi-nude images of themselves that perpetrators have created using images from the child’s social media profiles.3 Perpetrators then typically threaten to share the material with the child’s friends, family and social network unless the child meets the demands.
This type of abuse may be perpetrated by adults online or it may occur between children or young people who know each other in person or through online communities.4
Across the UK, it is illegal to make, possess or share indecent images of anyone under 18.
The term risks minimising the harm
Research highlights how children and young people are often reluctant to report this type of abuse. This may be due to feeling ashamed or scared that their images will be shared, or because of negative perceptions of the police and digital platforms, including around privacy settings and reporting harmful content.5,6 This can mean that they don’t speak out about what’s happening or downplay the severity of the situation while trying to meet the blackmailer’s demands, such as by paying money or providing more images or videos.
By using the term ‘sextortion’, professionals risk exacerbating this tendency to downplay or trivialise the harm children are experiencing. ‘Sextortion’ is an informal, media-friendly term that doesn’t reflect the harm caused. As a play on words combining ‘sexual’ and ‘extortion,’ it may send out a message to children that the issue isn’t a real problem or that it won’t be taken seriously.
This may discourage children from speaking freely about what is happening, making it harder for them to talk openly to adults about this type of abuse.
The term doesn’t reflect the issue
Children impacted by this type of abuse may experience different harms and demands.
In some cases, perpetrators may threaten to share images of the child or young person unless they send more images of themselves. In other cases, the threat of sharing images may be used to extort money from the child. Research, as well as insight from Childline counselling sessions, suggests that boys are more likely to experience financial demands, while girls are more likely to be coerced into sending more nude or semi-nude images or videos.7
> Listen to our podcast on protecting boys from financially motivated sexual extortion
Some children may also experience bullying, particularly if the threats and demands are coming from another child or a group of children in their peer group.
This means children can have very different experiences of this type of abuse, and their experiences depend on factors like who is threatening to share the images and the demands that person is making. These different scenarios require different responses, both in terms of the safeguarding response and the criminal justice response.
The term ‘sextortion’ doesn’t reflect this variety and complexity. It risks oversimplifying children’s experiences, perpetrator motivations and the forms of support and professional intervention required. This can prevent professionals from considering the different factors at play and responding effectively to each child or young person.
Children don’t use the term
Insights from Childline counselling sessions highlight how children and young people don’t use the term ‘sextortion’ when talking about this type of abuse. When talking to counsellors, children typically described their experiences with terms like:
- being blackmailed
- threatening to leak my nudes
- getting scammed
- playing me
- getting tricked
- making fake / AI nudes of me.
> Read our Helplines insight briefing on young people’s experiences of online sexual extortion
Children also report wanting adults to use language that children and young people use and understand.8 If professionals use the term ‘sextortion’ when discussing this type of abuse, this can become a barrier to engagement with children and young people.
How should we talk about this issue?
The term ‘sexually coerced extortion’ more accurately describes the harm and doesn’t downplay or trivialise the issue. However, it’s also important to be specific and provide context when reporting and recording incidents. Ask yourself:
- who is the person making the threats?
- what are the threats?
- what are the demands on the child or young person?
- what is the impact on the child or young person?
If the abuse is occurring between children, it’s important to focus on the behaviour being displayed rather than labelling children as abusers.
> Read our Why language matters blog on the importance of labelling actions, not children
You should also be aware of why it can be difficult for children and young people to speak out. Being sensitive to any feelings of shame, fear, helplessness or negative perceptions of digital platforms or the police is vital when speaking with children who may be experiencing sexually coerced extortion. Always make clear that what is happening is not their fault.
It’s important to acknowledge and use the language that children and young people are using, both when working with children who have experienced this type of abuse and when making children aware of the risks that come with sharing information and images online.
> Watch our expert insight videos on supporting children’s safety online
You should make children aware of the different sources of support available if they are ever worried about an image they have shared online or the way someone has been communicating with them online, including Childline’s Report Remove tool and the CEOP Safety Centre.
It’s crucial to remind children that support is always available and that they shouldn’t pay or attempt to meet the demands as there is no guarantee this will put a stop to the threats.9
References
O’Malley, R.L. and Holt, K.M. (2022) Cyber sextortion: an exploratory analysis of different perpetrators engaging in a similar crime. Journal of interpersonal violence, 37(1-2): 258-283.Ray, A. and Henry, N. (2024) Sextortion: a scoping review. Trauma, violence and abuse, 26(1): 138-155.
Henry, N. and Beard, G. (2024) Image-based sexual abuse perpetration: a scoping review. Trauma, violence and abuse, 25(5): 3981-3998.
Turner, H.A., Finkelhor, D. and Colburn, D. (2024) Contexts and characteristics of image-based sexual exploitation and abuse of children: incident dynamics in a national sample. Child maltreatment, 30(1): 68-81.
Ray, A. and Henry, N. (2024) Sextortion: a scoping review. Trauma, violence and abuse, 26(1): 138-155.
Unicef UK (2019) Health, privacy and trust in a digital world: what do children and young people think? (PDF). London: Unicef UK.
Ray, A. and Henry, N. (2024) Sextortion: a scoping review. Trauma, violence and abuse, 26(1): 138-155.
The Guardian (2024) Don’t scare us and use our language to discuss sextortion, say teenagers. [Accessed 11/06/2025].
UK Police (n.d.) Sextortion: reporting it to us. [Accessed 17/06/2025].