The Relationship between Sextortion during COVID-19 and Pre-pandemic Intimate Partner Violence: A Large Study of Victimization among Diverse U.S Men and Women

ABSTRACT

In a large and diverse sample of U. S. adults, we assessed participants’ experience with pre-COVID in-person intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and with sextortion victimization during COVID to better understand the relationship between these phenomena. Experiencing sexual IPV pre-COVID increased the likelihood that men and women would experience sextortion during COVID. Men, Black and Native women, LGBTQ individuals, and emerging adults more often experienced sextortion during COVID than other groups. Implications for research on technology-facilitated sexual violence and practice with survivors are explored.

KEYWORDS:

• Sextortion
• intimate partner violence
• health disparities
• COVID-19

View correction statement:

Correction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors. This version has been corrected. Please see Correction notice https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2022.2046349

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant #2035686.