The Image-Based Sexual Abuse initiative, powered by Panorama Global, published its landmark report.
As image-based sexual violence continues to harm more people each year, there is an urgent need for coordinated, cross-sector solutions on a global scale. The Reclaim Coalition to End Online Image-based Sexual Violence brings together a global network of leaders to accelerate the global response to online image-based sexual violence through shared initiatives across advocacy, policy, technology, and survivor services.
Just as this form of violence encompasses a complex web of issues, so too must the solutions be wide-ranging and interconnected, including stronger laws, global cooperation, government action, media education, technology innovation, prevention strategies, and more.
With social media, smartphones, and other technology woven seamlessly into all facets of everyday life, many of us – primarily women and girls, but not solely – must face the fact that threats of sexual and gender-based violence now pervade our online lives.
For example, there are 3,000 websites dedicated to nonconsensually sharing intimate images, predominantly of women and girls. This issue is also growing at a breakneck speed, impacting people across generations and borders.
Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA)— also known as sextortion, upskirting, revenge porn, deepfakes, digital sex trafficking, or cyberflashing—is a technology-enabled form of gender-based violence that can result in very real impact, ranging from mental illness to suicide, from job loss to social isolation, physical assault to body dysmorphia, threats against friends and family, and many other harms.
This global landscape report explores the issue of image-based sexual abuse, the harms it causes survivors, and what we can—and must—do together to stop it.
There is still much more to learn, but by working together, we can catalyze and elevate the field of image-based abuse, support and learn from survivors, and move towards a future where everyone may be freely and safely online without the threat of image-based sexual abuse.
