Sexual Abuse & Exploitation - Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings

Gisele Pelicot: A Hymn to Life

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Gisele Pelicot, prepare yourself. It’s mind boggling.

I’ve followed this story since it first made it to the US news cycle from France.

The Reader’s Digest Version is: Ms. Pelicot’s (ex) husband had been drugging her, assaulting her, and inviting other men into their home to assault her as well.

Even more astonishing is how she found out about her abuse. Her husband was arrested for a crime related to voyeurism. This led the authorities to find videos taken of the assaults of his unconscious wife.

The story is abhorrent. The behavior is egregious. But Gisele Pelicot is a marvel.

The story first made world news because of the abuse she suffered. She, however, changed the narrative and took her power back.

As professionals, our time is valuable. Dr. Weeks created the Mitigation Aide Research Archive because there isn’t enough focused, data-backed research available in easily digestible formats.

Normally, in France, these trials are closed so no one from the public sees the evidence. This is normally done to protect the victims. Gisele Pelicot said no. She opened the trial to the public.

She refused to carry the shame of her abusers.

So, she sat there for the trial of an incomprehensible number of men. The videos of these men assaulting her were played in public. She made the abusers watch with her in the room. She refused to carry the shame and became an ICON and an inspiration to others who have been sexually abused.

When A Hymn to Life came out, I read it immediately.

This is her story.

How she came to learn of being the victim of such horrible abuse and what she went through during the time from discovery through the trial.

It is a beautiful book.

I know how weird that sounds. How can a story about a woman’s journey through the most horrific experience be beautiful?

It just is.

It is real and raw and does not gloss over the emotional conflict of loving someone who perpetrates unimaginable harm to you.

Why I recommend A Hymn to Life by Gisele Pelicot

It is an inspiration to survivors of sexual abuse.
It is a brave and compelling story.
For the partners of my clients who have sexually offended, it is the only book I have ever read that articulates the struggle of coming to grips with your partner doing something so egregious that you knew nothing about.

Are you a professional looking to stay up-to-date with the latest information on, sex addiction, trauma, and mental health news and research? Or maybe you’re looking for continuing education courses? stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Struggling with excessive sexual thoughts, urges, or activities that are causing you distress? Take the free, online Sexual Symptom Assessment Scale (SSAS) and get a link to share with your therapist.

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Image-Based Sexual Abuse: Why Stranger Danger Misses the Real Risk

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 26 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Challenging the “Stranger Danger” Archetype

For decades, the public’s conceptualization of “child pornography” was tethered to a specific, mid-90s archetype: a predatory adult in a basement, wielding a camera to exploit a child. This “stranger danger” narrative shaped the first generation of digital safety laws, but it relied on a technological bottleneck that no longer exists. In the early digital era, creating and distributing such material often required “intermediaries,” developers or specialized services, who acted as a friction point for reporting abuse. Today, that barrier has vanished. A landmark 2026 study published in Sexual Abuse reveals a landscape that has shifted from adult-captured content to Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA). A broader term encompassing the non-consensual making, distribution, and threatened distribution of sexual images.

The data is clear: the primary producers of modern abusive content are not “strangers,” but the youth victims themselves and their immediate social circles.

A Massive Shift in Content Creation

The study provides a staggering clarification of the digital landscape: the vast majority (86%) of abusive episodes involved images produced by youth. Either by the victims themselves (73.7%) or by peer perpetrators (12.1%).

In stark contrast, images actually produced by adults accounted for less than 8% of the total episodes.

The velocity of this shift is remarkable.

Licensed Professional Counselors: Dr. Weeks’ course The Prevalence of Youth-Produced Image-Based Sexual Abuse examines changing patterns in image-based sexual abuse and offers a framework for understanding youth-involved perpetrator dynamics.

Sexual Addiction Treatment Services has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7250. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Sexual Addiction Treatment Services is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

In 2010, youth-produced images accounted for roughly 40% of law enforcement databases; that figure has more than doubled in just over a decade.

This reflects a fundamental change in adolescent socialization where digital media is fully integrated. The “democratization” of recording devices means the power of production has moved into the hands of the adolescents, often within contexts of dating, flirtation, or peer pressure, removing the traditional predatory intermediary entirely.

“This shift in terminology [from child pornography to CSAM/CSAI] was intended to emphasize that the images were often made by in-person sexual abusers, who recorded their abusive conduct… The new conception also acknowledged the ongoing harm to the children depicted, as these shareable images can be characterized as ongoing abusive provocations and reminders.”

Why the Stranger Myth is Dangerous

The persistent fear of the “online stranger” creates a dangerous blind spot.

The study findings reveal that only 3.4% of youth perpetrators were “not known in-person.”

Mathematically, for youth-on-youth abuse, the “predatory stranger” is almost a statistical anomaly. Even among adult perpetrators, 59% were offline acquaintances like dating partners or friends.

While 36.7% of perpetrators’ identities remained “unknown” to the victims, a significant data gap that complicates reporting, the known data points to a reality where the threat is an in-person peer or partner.

Perpetrator Relationship Breakdown

	Adult Perpetrators	Youth Perpetrators
Dating Partner	9.5%	14.3%
Friend/Acquaintance	7.1%	12.5%
Not Known in-person	12.3%	3.4%

The Victim as the Producer: A New Tool for Adult Abusers

Perhaps the most counter-intuitive finding is the role of the victim in adult-perpetrated abuse.

In 75% of adult-perpetrated episodes, the images were originally produced by the youth victim. Modern adult abusers rarely need to capture images themselves; they leverage unequal power dynamics to manipulate “normal developing interests in sex” into digital assets.

Adult “Groomers” and “Coercers” no longer require physical proximity to generate material.

By leveraging romantic pretense or blackmail, they turn the victim’s own device into an instrument of exploitation. This evolution demonstrates how predators have adapted to a world where self-production is the social norm, weaponizing the victim’s own agency against them.

Are you exploring your trauma? Do you feel your childhood experiences were detrimental to your current mental or physical health? Utilize this free, validated, self-report questionnaire to find out.

Take the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

The Five-Category Framework for Abuse

To address the complexity of modern IBSA, the study proposes a five-category framework that moves beyond binary labels to define the specific intent and dynamics of the abuse:

Adult Producers: Perpetrators who create images to document their own physical abuse of a child for memorialization or monetization.
Adult Coercers: Predators who extort youth into creating and sharing explicit content through the use of threats or digital blackmail.
Adult Groomers: Perpetrators who manipulate youth into self-production by masquerading as romantic partners or offering items of value.
Juvenile Coercers: Peers who weaponize force, threats, or emotional guilt to pressure victims into supplying explicit images.
Juvenile Betrayers: Peers who breach a victim’s confidence by sharing images given voluntarily or by taking secret images of a peer without their consent.

The Prevention Paradox: Why Punishment Might Backfire

The study highlights a critical “prevention paradox”: an over-reliance on harsh criminal sanctions for youth may actually decrease safety.

When the legal system treats peer-to-peer “betrayals” with the same punitive weight as adult predation, victims become reluctant to report. They fear that reporting a peer, or admitting to self-production, will result in themselves or their friends being permanently labeled as sex offenders. To counter this, we must move toward restorative justice and rehabilitation models.

Effective prevention requires providing technical resources for image removal and focusing on the nuances of digital boundaries rather than simple prohibition.

“Warnings simply to not talk to strangers, not to share information and not to make sexual images are insufficient. These do not address the complexity of the situations many youth face or the context for these offenses, which include romance, bullying, and normal developing interests in sex.”

Learn why it’s important for everyone, especially teens, to be able to control their online experiences. Dick Pic Culture: How do Teenage Girls Navigate it?

Redefining Digital Consent

The epidemiology of digital abuse has fundamentally changed.

We are no longer defending against a shadow in a dark room. We are navigating a landscape of peers, partners, and self-captured content.

This necessitates a move toward a “consent standard” rather than a “prohibition model.” Protecting youth today requires multidisciplinary agencies, like Children’s Advocacy Centers, that offer supportive, trauma-informed interventions rather than purely punitive ones.

The Final Thought

If the statistical “threat” is more likely to be a known peer or a manipulated self-capture than an online stranger, are our safety conversations still stuck in the 90s?

We must adapt our education to a reality where the greatest risk to a child is often found in their own contact list. What are your thoughts on this?

Are you looking for more reputable, data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Consult with a professional.

The post Image-Based Sexual Abuse: Why Stranger Danger Misses the Real Risk first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

AI Nudification: The 55% Stat Parents Can’t Ignore

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Fri, 15 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000

How AI Nudification Became the New Adolescent Normal

From Virtual Fitting Rooms to Digital Danger

Generative AI (GenAI) was supposed to be our creative co-pilot. We didn’t see AI Nudification coming.

We marveled at its ability to turn text into art and embraced “virtual try-on” applications that allowed us to see how clothing might fit using nothing more than a smartphone camera. But as a tech ethicist, I’ve watched this innovation take a dark, predatory turn. While the underlying technology, specifically “inpainting,” is legitimate, its application in adolescent circles has reached a terrifying tipping point.

We are no longer talking about a few “tech-savvy” outliers; we are witnessing the mass-normalization of AI-generated Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) among teenagers. This isn’t just the next stage of digital growing pains. It’s a fundamental shift in how the first generation of “AI adolescents” navigates consent, identity, and digital harm.

Takeaway 1: The “Scaling Gap” and the New AI Nudification Normal

For years, educators and parents tracked the steady rise of traditional “sexting.” Historical meta-analyses placed adolescent creation and receipt of self-generated sexual imagery at roughly 14.8% and 27.4%, respectively. This latest data reveals a staggering “scaling gap” that should alarm every stakeholder in digital safety.

Today, GenAI has effectively quadrupled those rates. According to a nationally representative survey of 13-to-17-year-olds:

55.3% of adolescents have used AI “nudification” tools to create sexualized images of themselves.
54.4% have received these images.

What was once a niche behavior has become a majority experience. This isn’t just a technological update to sexting; it is a total normalization of CSEM production as a routine part of adolescent sexual exploration.

Takeaway 2: Nudification vs. Creation – The Personal Toll of Inpainting

It is vital to understand the technical nuance that makes this trend so invasive. There is a massive difference between general text-to-image GenAI (which creates an image from a prompt) and “nudification” tools. These tools utilize a technique called inpainting, which modifies a pre-existing, real photo.

The survey found that usage of these specific nudification tools is significantly higher than traditional AI content creation. This is precisely why the victimization is so direct: it requires the likeness of a real person. As the study notes, these tools are designed to:

“…visualize what individuals might look like without clothing.”

By using a real individual as a “basis image,” the technology allows for the digital removal of clothing, turning a casual school photo into CSEM in seconds. The distinction between a “fake” image and a “real” person is erased, leading to a profound degree of direct victimization.

Are you exploring your trauma? Do you feel your childhood experiences were detrimental to your current mental or physical health? Utilize this free, validated, self-report questionnaire to find out.

Take the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

Takeaway 3: The High Cost of Non-Consensual “Deepfakes”

The most heartbreaking aspect of this shift is the erosion of consent. The data highlights a crisis of victimization: 36.3% of participants reported having a non-consensual image of them created, and 33.2% had such an image shared without their permission.

Victims describe a visceral sense of “powerlessness” and “dehumanization.” When your likeness can be hijacked and sexualized without your involvement, it leads to a state of constant hypervigilance. Crucially, these statistics represent a lower bound of the crisis. Because the study only measured peer-to-peer actions, it does not account for images created by adults exploiting minors or images of children under the age of 13. If those variables were included, the scale of victimization would likely skyrocket.

Takeaway 4: The Gender and Age Myths Around AI Nudification Debunked

We often fall into the trap of thinking digital crises are limited to specific subcultures or older teens. The data tells a different story. The usage of AI nudification tools is remarkably uniform across all demographics: race, region, and sexual orientation showed no statistically significant differences in prevalence. This is a universal adolescent issue.

While male participants showed higher rates of regular (frequent) creation and distribution, the most startling finding was the age breakdown. There was no statistically significant difference in usage between 13-year-olds and 17-year-olds. This destroys the myth that we can wait until high school to talk about AI safety. To be effective, digital literacy and intervention must begin before age 13, as younger adolescents are already engaging with these tools at the same rates as their older peers.

Learn why it’s important for everyone, especially teens, to be able to control their online experiences. Dick Pic Culture: How do Teenage Girls Navigate it?

Takeaway 5: A Legal and Ethical Gray Zone

We must call these images what they are: CSEM. Under federal law (18 U.S. Code § 1466A), the production and distribution of pornographic GenAI images of minors is illegal, regardless of whether the image is “real.”

This puts policymakers in an ethical bind.

We are currently seeing thousands of adolescents technically committing federal crimes as part of “exploratory” peer behavior. Ethicists and lawmakers are now forced to debate whether we need legal “carve-outs” for consensual, same-age peer interactions, or if the permanent digital harm of these images necessitates strict criminal enforcement. Meanwhile, “gray market” apps continue to bypass app store controls, providing easy access to nudification tools without any meaningful age verification.

Conclusion: A Call for Proactive Digital Literacy

The window for intervention is narrow but still open. Because much of the current usage is reported as “exploratory” rather than “habitual,” we have a brief opportunity to steer this generation toward a more ethical digital future. However, our response cannot be reactive. We need multimodal education that doesn’t just teach “online safety” but addresses the profound ethical weight of AI tools and the lifelong impact of non-consensual sharing.

Final Thought: As we enter an era where a child’s likeness can be permanently decoupled from their consent in a matter of clicks, we must ask: Are our legal and educational frameworks fundamentally incompatible with this new reality, or are we simply too slow to protect the first generation of AI adolescents?

Are you looking for more reputable, data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

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4 Ways Childhood Trauma Physically Changes a Man’s Brain

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 15:23:48 +0000

Introduction: More Than a Memory

It is widely understood that childhood trauma, particularly childhood sexual abuse (CSA), leaves deep and lasting psychological scars.

The experience can shape a person’s emotional landscape for a lifetime. It can lead to challenges like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. For many, the impact feels profound, but the injury itself can seem invisible.

But what if the damage wasn’t just psychological? What if the trauma left a physical, measurable imprint on the very structure of the brain? A new brain imaging study provides compelling evidence that this is exactly what happens.

The research focuses specifically on the long-term neurophysiological effects of CSA in men. We know this is a topic that remains heavily stigmatized and under-researched. Despite its prevalence, with approximately 1 in 25 men in Canada experiencing sexual abuse before age 15 (Heidinger, 2022), the physical toll it takes has been poorly understood until now.

This study begins to change that.

1. Childhood Trauma Physically Alters the Brain’s “Communication Highways”

The researchers used a specialized MRI technique called Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). DTI looks deep inside the brain’s white matter.

You can think of white matter as the brain’s internal communication wiring or its information superhighways. White matter consists of bundles of nerve fibers that connect different brain regions and allow them to work together seamlessly.

The study measured a key property of this wiring called “fractional anisotropy” (FA). In simple terms, FA is a measure of the integrity and efficiency of these communication pathways.

Higher FA values indicate well-organized, healthy wiring. While lower values suggest the wiring may be less organized, frayed, or poorly insulated, leading to disrupted signaling.

The study’s core finding was unequivocal: the group of men with a history of CSA had significantly lower FA values in multiple key brain regions compared to the control group. This provides clear physical proof that the trauma fundamentally rewired the brain’s architecture.

2. The Damage Targets Critical Hubs for Emotion, Memory, and Executive Function

The study revealed that the structural changes were not random. They were concentrated in white matter tracts that are critical for regulating the very functions that many survivors struggle with.

The specific regions affected include:

The Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus (SLF): This massive tract showed the largest effect. A finding with a statistical effect size (Cohen’s d = 1.902) so large it indicates a profound difference between the groups. The damage was most pronounced in a segment called SLF II. This connects key hubs for attention and memory to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), a critical command center for executive function. This provides a direct neurobiological link explaining why a survivor might struggle with daily tasks like concentrating at work or managing complex projects.

The Cingulum: As a key part of the brain’s limbic system, the cingulum is a hub for processing emotion, behavior, and memory. Damage here has been previously linked to PTSD and depression. This offers a biological reason for the persistent feelings of anxiety or the intrusive memories that can define a survivor’s experience.

The Anterior Thalamic Radiation and Forceps Minor: These tracts are essential wiring for the frontal lobe, supporting executive functions like planning complex behaviors and impulse control. Compromised integrity in these pathways can help explain difficulties with emotional regulation and decision-making that survivors often report.

In short, the brain scans reveal a physical roadmap of the injury, showing that the damage isn’t random. It targets the very systems that survivors rely on to regulate emotion, process memory, and maintain focus.

Are you exploring your trauma? Do you feel your childhood experiences were detrimental to your current mental or physical health? Utilize this free, validated, self-report questionnaire to find out.

Take the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

3. Structural Damage from Childhood Trauma Helps Explain Real-World Cognitive Emotional Challenges

One of the most powerful aspects of this research is how it connects the brain’s physical structure to its real-time function.

Some of the same men who participated in this DTI study also took part in another study that used a functional MRI (fMRI) to see how their brains worked during a challenging mental task (Chiasson et al., 2021).

That fMRI study found that when performing an emotional working memory task, the men with CSA histories showed altered brain activation patterns.

Instead of relying on their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), the brain’s executive control center, they showed increased activation in limbic areas, the brain’s emotional hub.

This new DTI study provides a compelling physical explanation for why. The structural damage to the Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus (SLF II), the “highway” that leads directly to the dlPFC, helps explain why that executive control center was less active. The damaged road was unable to carry the traffic. It forced the brain to create functional “detours” through more emotional pathways. It directly links the physical brain changes to the functional difficulties survivors experience.

4. This Evidence is a Powerful Tool Against Stigma Around Male Childhood Trauma

For male survivors of CSA, stigma and shame often create immense barriers to seeking help. This research offers a powerful tool to fight that stigma.

Having objective, empirical evidence that trauma causes a tangible, neurophysiological injury helps reframe the survivor’s experience.

It is not “just in their head” or a sign of weakness; it is a physical injury that requires understanding and clinical support.

The study’s authors highlight this crucial implication in their conclusion:

“Raising awareness of the impact of CSA is crucial—not only to help destigmatize the topic and encourage more men to seek help, but also to equip clinicians with a better understanding of CSA’s neuro-physiological effects, ultimately contributing to more effective interventions and improved treatment outcomes.”

By demonstrating the physical reality of traumatic injury, this research helps move the conversation around male CSA away from silence and stigma and toward one of scientific understanding, compassion, and informed care.

Conclusion: A Deeper Understanding of Healing

This study offers a stark and clear message: childhood trauma is a profound event that can physically reshape the brain’s architecture.

For men who have survived childhood sexual abuse, this research provides concrete, scientific validation of their experience. It shows that the challenges they face are rooted in tangible changes to the brain’s white matter.

The findings underscore that healing from trauma is not merely a psychological exercise but a process that involves a brain that has been physically altered.

As we continue to uncover the deep nature of traumatic injury, it prompts a vital question for us all:

How might this change our approach to healing, compassion, and justice for survivors?

Does this ring true for you or someone you love? Share how this article shined a light on behaviors you hadn’t previously understood in the comments below.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? consult with a professional.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

The post 4 Ways Childhood Trauma Physically Changes a Man’s Brain first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Child Sex Trafficking: How do People Become Victims?

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Thankfully, in light of recent high-profile cases, the world is taking Child Sex Trafficking more seriously. Therefore, with this increased awareness, I’d like to share some data about what we know about how traffickers find their victims. This knowledge will, hopefully, help with education and prevention at all levels.

Previous research has identified several types of traffickers, based on how they recruit their victims. These have been categorized in differing ways.

Some studies divide the types of traffickers into those who use an aggressive/antisocial means to recruit victims versus a charismatic/manipulative means. Other researchers put traffickers into categories like:

Romantic boyfriend
Gang member
Relatives
Those who specifically prey on children with intellectual disabilities

Child Sex Trafficking: Types of Traffickers

Boyfriend/Girlfriend Recruitment

These traffickers present themselves as caring and compassionate friends.

They often offer to help the victim escape an abusive situation or home; they exploit these vulnerabilities of the victim. These traffickers might be someone posing as a boyfriend or the actual romantic partner of the victim.

Peer-to-Peer Recruitment

Some victims of sex trafficking are recruited by other victims of sex trafficking.

This may seem very counter intuitive. The research suggests that peer sex trafficking is often done unwillingly under actual or threatened abuse. Alternatively, this is sometimes seen as a survival strategy where a victim recruits another victim thinking, “Better them than me.”

Stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

Gang/Criminal Recruitment

Many victims of sex trafficking are aggressively recruited by gang members.

Often these victims are young women who have a drug habit that is exploited or are convinced to enter prostitution to help the gang by being love bombed by the trafficker.

Family Trafficking

Both mothers and fathers have been known to traffic their children for various reasons.

Family trafficking can also involve other family members. Research has shown that mothers with drug addictions are most often seen in this category.

By identifying the different tactics used by various types of traffickers, public education and youth education can happen to try to prevent trafficking from the inception, before a child becomes a victim.

Child Sex Trafficking: Sub-Types of Perpetrator

A study published in 2023 in the scientific journal, Victims & Offenders, sought to further the research on child sex trafficking by describing recruitment strategies used by perpetrators.

The goal of this study is to inform prevention education and interventions.

The study reviewed 78 Child Protective Investigation case files in the state of Florida.

The study found 7 distinct subtypes of perpetrator of Child Sex Trafficking:

Peer/Acquaintance
Organized Crime
Romantic Coercive Conman
“Mate” crime predator
Family Abuser
Opportunistic Trafficker
Cybertrafficker

Peer/Acquaintance Trafficker

Maybe a neighbor, classmate, friend, etc. Uses peer recruitment, often via social media to find youth in their geographic area. The child is then groomed by being offered drugs, gifts or basic needs such as food or shelter. Grooming also includes building a friendship and normalizing commercial sexual exploitation.

Want to learn more about primary prevention? These articles explore prevention before harm occurs, minor attraction, stigma, and ways to improve access to help.

Organized Crime Child Sex Trafficking

Uses peer to peer recruitment. Finds youth in areas known for drugs and illegal activities. Child is groomed by being offered drugs and providing basic needs. Uses violence and intimidation when the child ends up paying for the “gifts” with sex.

Family Abuser

This person exploits their own young family members for either profit or to support a drug habit. The victim often lives with the abuser.

Romantic Coercive Conman

This trafficker is often seen as a boyfriend by the victim. They find victims by chatting online with girls on social media and dating apps. They will also go to places where girls frequent in person. The victims are groomed using romance and gift giving. They are also groomed with charm and often alcohol and drugs. The victim is then isolated from friends and family.

Mate Crime Predator

This trafficker preys upon the most vulnerable youth they can find. These are often youth with intellectual disabilities, mental health issues or physical disabilities. The victims are groomed with friendship. Traffickers often find these victims in places where you find run away children or using peer to peer recruitment via foster care or social media. Victims are groomed with basic needs or drugs and alcohol. This type of trafficker often also uses physically abusive tactics.

If you’re unfamiliar with sextortion, check out Dr. Jen’s article How to Protect Your Child from Sextortion.

Opportunistic Child Sex Trafficking

These traffickers often meet youth at places like truck stops or other places run away youth are to be found. They can then take advantage of the child’s specific vulnerability and groom them with offers of food, shelter, transportation and drugs or alcohol.

Cybertrafficker

This trafficker only interacts with victims online. The victims are found mostly on social media and dating apps. The trafficker befriends them and often promises money in exchange for sexual images and videos. They often then blackmail victims by threatening to disseminate the sexual images of the child.

Child Sex Trafficking Prevention

For prevention efforts to be successful, they need to be in place at all levels of the behavior.

By identifying the different tactics used by various types of traffickers, public education and youth education can happen to try to prevent trafficking from the inception, before a child becomes a victim.

Reference

Reid, J., Bilali, K., Fox, B. & Diaz, J. (2023). Toward a Typology of Child Sex Traffickers: Using Crime Script Analysis to Inform Prevention, Victims & Offenders., 18:3, 423-446. DOI: 10/1080/15564886.2022.2149648.

Are you exploring your trauma? Do you feel your childhood experiences were detrimental to your current mental or physical health? Utilize this free, validated, self-report questionnaire to find out.

Take the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

Are you a Licensed Professional Counselor seeking engaging, unique Continuing Education courses? Dr. Weeks offers accredited courses on her practice website on the effects of Pornography Abstinence and other unique topics!

Are you looking for more reputable, data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

The post Child Sex Trafficking: How do People Become Victims? first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Video on Recent Research

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Sibling Sexual Abuse is something that many people experience and are the victim of, but the scientific community hasn’t spent much time evaluating. In this video I cover some recent research articles linking this topic with family systems, trauma, and sexual abuse.

Looking for more on sibling sexual abuse? Explore recent research on family dynamics, parental impact, and connections with adverse childhood experiences.

These sorts of traumatic events are often left out of the conversation even in treatment. However, more research will help both clinicians and victims during recovery.

Stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? consult with a professional.

The post Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Video on Recent Research first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Living with Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Parent’s Perspective

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 12:00:00 +0000

In this video I discuss the latest research on parental impact of sibling sexual abuse (SSA). The consequences are far more serious for the parents in these situations because they have to handle both the abuser and the abused child.

Looking for more on sibling sexual abuse? Explore recent research on family dynamics, parental impact, and connections with adverse childhood experiences.

The key takeaway from the video are the challenges and the insecurities these parents experience.

Are you exploring your trauma? Do you feel your childhood experiences were detrimental to your current mental or physical health? Utilize this free, validated, self-report questionnaire to find out.

Take the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Consult with a professional.

The post Living with Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Parent’s Perspective first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

What do we Know About Educators who Commit Sexual Abuse?

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Despite the age of this study, published in 2014, it provides valuable insight into current issues about sexual abuse by educators.

Teachers, Students, and Sexual Abuse

While these cases do not come across my desk terribly often, they do still occur.

In Pennsylvania, the age of consent is 16. However, if the abuse case involves a 16- or 17-year-old victim and a perpetrator who is in a position of trust, i.e., a teacher, the teenager cannot give consent and the cases are criminally charged.

Here in PA, the cases that get the most media attention are where a female teacher abuses a student, regardless of the gender of the victim.

Do you believe your sexual behaviors are compulsive or harmful to you or others? Then you should take the CSBD-19 free, validated self-assessment tool.

Sexual Abuse by Educators: A Study

The authors sought to address three specific questions that were all related to the gender of the educator who offended. Were there gender differences based on:

The age of the victim?
The grade the abuser taught?
How the offenses came to light?

Study Results

Age of the victims:

Male teachers who offended had victims that were significantly younger (12 & under)
Female teachers most often offended against students 13 and older

There were no differences between the genders in terms of the grade in school they taught.

I found an interesting revelation to be how the sexual abuse came to light:

When the person who engaged in the offending behavior was a man, the abuse was disclosed more often by the victim themselves, discovered by someone in the administration or through a police sting.
When the person who was the abuser was female, the abuse came to light more often through a report by another student or by a parent or guardian.

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Sexual Abuse Study Takeaways

These findings appear to support some of the stigma related to being the victim of sexual abuse perpetrated by a woman.

Often these victims are not believed when they do report the abuse, or they do not perceive the sexual interactions to be abusive.

This study was not designed to provide any causal explanations. Therefore, they do not attempt to make assertions as to why male educators abuse younger victims more than female educators. This would be a very interesting topic of study.

Ten Years Later

Ten years out from the publication of this study, it’s disappointing to realize that this abuse continues. In some cases, it may seem as though it has increased.

My opinion is that the behavior, teachers sexually abusing their students, has likely not increased.

With increased education and mandatory reporting laws, as well as the positive effects of things like the #metoo movement, it is more likely that these cases are simply being reported more often, holding those who engage in the abuse to account.

Inappropriate sexual behavior by educators should always be reported.

School needs to be a place of safety for children and educators need to be trustworthy custodians of our children’s education.

Reference: Ratliff, L. & Watson, J. (2014). A Descriptive Analysis of Public School Educators Arrested for Sex Offenses. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 23:2, 217-228.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Consult with a professional.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Are you looking for more reputable, data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

The post What do we Know About Educators who Commit Sexual Abuse? first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Male Sexual Trauma: What are its Long-Term Effects?

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Most of the people I work with are men. I could write for days about male sexual trauma and how they have been acculturated to keep it secret.

Not acknowledge it.

And surely not seek help for the long-term effects of the trauma.

A Study on Male Sexual Trauma

We spend a lot of time in therapy unpacking these issues and then working through the trauma itself. That’s why I was excited to see this article, published this year, in the journal of the Academy of Psychiatry and Law. It specifically addressed the psychological and physiological effects of male sexual trauma.

This study was also particularly interesting to me because all of the men in the study were sexually abused by the same perpetrator.

The data came from evaluations given as part of a civil class suit brought against a physician who worked at a college for approximately 50 years. The men were subjected to various forms of sexual abuse during the course of physical examinations given by the physician.

As part of the evaluations for the lawsuit, the men underwent various testing protocols, including the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90-R). They were also assessed for things like substance abuse, erectile dysfunction, and relationship status.

Do you believe your sexual behaviors are compulsive or harmful to you or others? Then you should take the CSBD-19 free, validated self-assessment tool.

Results of the Study on Male Sexual Trauma

These men were all between the ages of 18 and 22 when the abuse occurred. They were all abused during medical visits. The abusive behaviors were all framed as a necessary part of the medical exam.

Unfortunately, at the time of the abuse, most of the men were not aware of how to report it. Almost all of the men were fearful of possible consequences from reporting the abuse.

The study revealed that 78.7% of the 47 men in the study experienced intimacy and sexual problems.
51% experienced erectile dysfunction.
20% of the men dropped out of college after the abuse occurred.
38% reported that they had a challenging time keeping a job after the abuse.
In terms of relationships, 59.6% of the men reported they lost romantic partners.
74.5% reported that they had a tough time establishing meaningful relationships.

SCL-90-R Results

Results showed that psychopathology was present in many of the subjects.

66.7% of the men who were between 45 and 54 during the evaluation scored in the severely symptomatic range.
69.2% of the men between 55 and 64 scored in the severely symptomatic range.

The SCL-90-R score was also associated with alcohol addiction, employment issues, and intimacy problems.

As professionals, our time is valuable. Dr. Weeks created the Mitigation Aide Research Archive because there isn’t enough focused, data-backed research available in easily digestible formats.

Authors’ Notes on the Male Sexual Trauma Study

The authors note there were pervasive problems with relationships, sexual functioning, and intimacy reported by the men. This suggests the seriousness of the long term psychological and physiological effects of the abuse.

In terms of erectile dysfunction, about half of the men stated that they started having ED issues after the abuse. Those ED issues lasted for years.

Takeaways

This study outlines the long-lasting effects the sexual abuse perpetrated by one man had on 47 of his male victims. This is one of the first studies to specifically look at this population in this way.

The lack of research in this area speaks to the great need to destigmatize male sexual abuse and provide safe spaces for men to come forward and report their abuse.

Everyone who must suffer through this traumatic experience deserves to be heard, believed, and provided with the help they need to get through the trauma.

Reference: Petreca, V.G. & Burgess, A.W. (2024). Long-Term Psychological and Physiological Effects of Male Sexual Trauma. Journal of the Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 52(1), doi:10.29158/jaapl.230076-23

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Consult with a professional.

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Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

The post Male Sexual Trauma: What are its Long-Term Effects? first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

CSAM on the Dark Web

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Mon, 27 May 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Those of us in the field know that access to CSAM on the dark web is really only a few clicks away. Despite what many people think, it is pretty easy to access. Many of our CSAM clients were accessing these materials on TOR sites. Despite its frequent use, we really don’t know much about the details of CSAM availability and users on TOR sites.

A Study on CSAM on the Dark Web

An article just published in Scientific Reports, a Nature publication, looked at CSAM materials on TOR sites from both a computer science perspective and a public health perspective.

It is an enlightening study.

CSAM on the Dark Web: What is TOR?

For the unaware, TOR stands for The Onion Router.

It is an communication protocol that provides many layers of obfuscation for its users.

It does this by concealing the origin of the communications, resisting browser fingerprinting and circumventing traffic.

These tools allow for anonymous online hosting. On TOR sites, illegal content proliferates, whether that be CSAM sharing, drug trafficking, or other crimes.

CSAM on the Dark Web Study: The Questions

The authors of this study analyzed content on TOR sites to address the following questions:

How much CSAM is distributed through the TOR network?
What are users seeking and searching for?

They also surveyed the CSAM users to find out information about them.

Finally, they looked at how interventions based on searches might reduce child abuse.

Do you believe you have an online pornography addiction? Take the free Cyber Pornography Addiction Test (CYPAT) and have the results to speak with your therapist.

Statistical Results

The authors used a web crawler from 2018-2023 and found that 1/5^th of all TOR sites share CSAM.
CSAM can also be found on 21 of the 26 top TOR search engines, with four of these search engines actually advertising CSAM.
11.1% of users specifically searched for CSAM using the phrase “child porn” to get there.
When they surveyed the CSAM viewers, 61.6% said they have tried to stop watching it and 48.1% said they went to stop viewing CSAM.
Those CSAM users who were specifically searching for child content were more often searching for content of girls than boys.
More than half of the CSAM explicit searchers are looking for content in the age range of 12 to 16 year olds.

The authors went as far as to recommend that the psychiatric diagnoses of pedophilia and hebephilia be altered to sexual attraction to children under 11 (paedophilic type), attraction to children 11 to 14 (hebephilic) or both.

Who are Tor CSAM users?

The data showed that most of the CSAM users were initially exposed to CSAM when they were children and that more than half of these exposures were accidental.

Based on self report, almost 70% reported that they preferred content of girls to boys.
A very small percentage of individuals preferred content depicting images of infants or toddlers.

Want to learn more about primary prevention? These articles explore prevention before harm occurs, minor attraction, stigma, and ways to improve access to help.

What are possible online interventions for users of CSAM on the Dark Web?

The study reported that there are three prominent TOR search engines that provide links to self help programs for people who are concerned about their searching of CSAM. A good number of the CSAM viewers said they want to stop viewing the material and most of them have tried to stop at least once.

If so many people want help, why don’t they get help?

Many of the survey respondents stated that they were afraid to get help. Previous research has cited barriers to seeking help including fear of being reported, fear of being stigmatized, shame, and lack of understanding by professionals.

Since people who are using CSAM on TOR seem to want help, it is an area that is ripe for effective intervention. It opens up the question of whether or not more dark web recruitment for anonymous interventions is possible.

Since three websites provide links to self-help programs, why are more not doing so?

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My Takeaways from the Study on CSAM on the Dark Web

I really liked this study for two main reasons:

It was a combination of computer science and psychology

I think we know more about the psychology of CSAM users than how and where they get it.

It is often stated in court that someone who views CSAM must really be working hard to find it and view it. Studies like this one show us that it is not very hard to come across the content and more than half of the people who view it first accessed CSAM accidentally.

It Openly Discusses Interventions

It digs into how we can use these TOR sites to let people know there is help available. If they want to stop their behavior, they need to know there are therapists who can help them in a knowledgeable and non-shaming fashion.

I wonder, now, what we can do as a practice to be more active in prevention in this medium.

Reference: Nurmi, J., Paju, A., Brumley, B.B., Insoll, T., Ovaska, A.K., Soloveva, V., Vaaranen-Valkonen, N., Aaltonen, M. & Arroyo, D. (2024). Investigating child sexual abuse material availability, searches, and users on the anonymous Tor network for a public health intervention strategy. Scientific Reports, 14:7849.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? consult with a professional.

Are you looking for more reputable, data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

The post CSAM on the Dark Web first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.