Karen Holt, Ph.D. and Roberta Liggett-O’Malley, M.A.
Michigan State University
School of Criminal Justice
The advent of the Internet has transformed the nature of sexual crime. The role of technology in sexual violence has become increasingly salient with the unfettered access to computers, smartphones, and social media. We have recently published two articles, both in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, which explore unique forms of sexual violence for which there is a dearth of extant research.
Recently, we conducted a study focused on sextortion, a portmanteau of “sexual” and “extortion,” which is the threat to distribute intimate, sexual materials unless a victim complies with certain demands. The Department of Justice has identified sextortion as a harmful form of image-based sexual violence and is specifically concerned with the role of sextortion in child sexual exploitation. Although law enforcement is concerned with the sextortion of minors, adult women and males have also been impacted. In addition, very little is currently understood about how sextortion unfolds and the types of offenders who use sextortion to coerce their victims.
We employed a qualitative content analysis of media articles and court documents to explore the crimes of 152 cyber sextortion offenders. Characteristics of offenders, victims, demands, and methodology were identified and synthesized to generate a qualitative understanding of offenders who engaged cyber sextortion. The results revealed four different themes of offenders based on crime characteristics. Minor-focused cyber sextortion offenders tended to offend against minors online, use grooming strategies to entice images from minors, and demand their victims produce more exploitative content. Most concerning, a few minor focused cyber sextortion offenders demanded their victims abuse other minors in their proximity, such as younger siblings. Cybercrime cyber sextortion offenders tended to target female adults and minors and use theft and harassment to procure images. Intimately violent cyber sextortion offenders tended to receive intimate material through the course of their relationship and use sextortion as an extension of their abusive and controlling behavior. Finally, transnational criminal cyber sextortion offenders tended to target adult males, use ruses to engage in online sexual encounters, and engage in sextortion for financial motivations.
The diverse nature of cyber sextortion has implications for crime control policies. For instance, minor focused cyber sextortion offenders are more likely to be apprehended and prosecuted than those who target adults. Additionally, the study indicates that there is a general lack of legislative action targeting cyber sextortion, which limits legal recourse available for victims.
Another paper, forthcoming in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, is focused on Incels, a growing movement which has emerged online. A portmanteau of the term involuntary celibates, these individuals operate in online communities to discuss difficulties in seeking and succeeding in sexual relationships. Members are males who perceive a lack of agency in their sexual inactivity, which results in feelings of hostility, anger, and in some extreme cases, offline violence. One notable and tragic example is the case of a young man named Elliot Rodger in California. He was a participant in multiple online incel communities through posts and videos. He wrote a manifesto which detailed his desire for revenge against women and masculine men who he viewed as blocking him from sexual relationships. In one post, he urged other incels to retaliate against what he perceived as a female dominated social system: “Start envisioning a world where WOMEN FEAR YOU” (Nagourney et al., 2014). Rodgers later killed six people and injured fourteen others on the University of California campus.
The risk of violence stemming from incel communities and their online operational practices suggests they may resemble other ideologically motivated extremist groups. There is, however, a dearth of research considering the ideological beliefs of incels or the ways they express these sentiments in online spaces. Such insights are needed to improve our understanding of incels generally and their similarities to other extremist groups to identify strategies to counter their beliefs and de-escalate the risk of violence. We conducted a qualitative analysis of over 8,000 posts made in two online incel communities to identify the norms, values, and beliefs of these groups. We found that the incel community was structured around five interrelated normative orders: the sexual market, women as naturally evil, legitimizing masculinity, male oppression, and violence.
Incels framed the sexual market as a female-dominated system based on the principles of natural selection. Women were viewed as privileged gatekeepers to sexual relationships who choose mates on the basis of physical attractiveness and success, thus blocking incels from the market. They espoused the belief that women are inherently evil, manipulative and deceptive, attempting to control men through their femininity and sexuality. Incels also legitimized masculinity by normalizing aggression and violent behavior as well as rigid patriarchal structures. By framing women and feminism as the enemy, incels constructed identities of victimhood. They viewed and defined themselves as an oppressed group. Through situating themselves as victims, they justified and legitimized violence against women and those who block them from sexual relationships and goals.
Due to the nature of these groups, the use of programs designed to counter violent extremism in the United States may help to prevent future acts of violence. This typically involves targeted messaging campaigns to those audiences at risk of joining these movements. Messages which are focused on education surrounding gender, sexuality, and power can counter those narratives which justify and promote the use of violence.
In both types of offensive behaviors we studied, further research is needed in order to better understand the motivations and dynamics of these crimes. While motives for sexual violence may be similar, the diverse methods of offense presented by Internet access require special considerations for prevention and treatment.
References
Nagourney et al. (2014). Before brief, deadly spree, trouble before age 8. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/02/us/elliot-rodger-killings-in-california-followed-years-of-withdrawal.html
O’Malley, R. L. & Holt, K. (2020). Cyber Sextortion: An Exploratory Analysis of Different Perpetrators Engaging in A Similar Crime. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
O’Malley, R.L., Holt, K., & Holt, T. (Forthcoming). An Examination of the Involuntary Celibate (Incel) Subculture Online. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.