online safety - Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings

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 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!

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.

The post AI Nudification: The 55% Stat Parents Can’t Ignore first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Child Sexual Abuse Material: How to Deal With It

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 19:56:35 +0000

I talk to many people who think it’s hard to find Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM, formerly Child Pornography). The sad reality is, it’s more common than you think.

Not only can CSAM be found on websites and dark web spaces, but it’s also floating around on common social media sites.

Anecdotal Experiences with Child Sexual Abuse Material

We’ve had clients who’ve found these images on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Kik, X (formerly Twitter), Discord, and even Pinterest.

In our forensic work, these individuals were often seeking this material, but what should you do if you come across questionable images yourself?

What Steps Should you Take?

Report the Image to the Social Site

If you are on a social media site like Facebook or X, the first thing you should do is report the image with the site’s reporting tools.

For example, Facebook has the option to report a post on every single image on the site. So, if you think it’s questionable, you can report the image directly.

Once you report the offending material, it is out of your hands. Whether or not the site will actually investigate your report is unknown. Our staff members have reported images on these sites and only occasionally do the reports get investigated. However, sometimes you get a message that basically says they don’t have the capacity to check it out.

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.

Report the image to NCMEC

NCMEC, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to help children in exactly these circumstances. They have a cyber tip line to report the images online or to call someone and make the report via phone. NCMEC can then investigate the image.

Advanced Child Sexual Abuse Material Reporting Tools

Images reported to NCMEC are fed into a database and PhotoDNA program.

Major tech companies, like Google and Meta, Facebook’s parent, use PhotoDNA. It flags the content to be taken down. Additionally, if the investigation warrants a report to the police, NCMEC takes care of this.

Report to your local ChildLine

In addition to reporting the image to NCMEC, you can also make a report to your state’s child abuse reporting line.

This will start a similar process to reporting to NCMEC but at a local level. This will provide a second resource to investigate the images.

The Department of Human Services administers Pennsylvania’s ChildLine.

See the latest research on criminality related to social media:

Social Anxiety and Loneliness in Online Solicitation Offenders

See more articles related to social media

Keep a record of the reports that you make about Child Sexual Abuse Material

The first thing to be mindful of is what you do with the image that you feel is inappropriate and need to report.

Do NOT take a screen shot of the image.

If it is CSAM, you will then have it in your possession which is illegal. If you do feel that you need to do so, make sure you keep all documentation of reporting the images to the authorities. Screenshot call logs, keep email records, screenshot your social media reports. Keep all of these things in one place on ONE device.

We’ve had clients make reports and then were investigated for possessing CSAM images. Having the documentation that they screenshot an image for the express purpose of reporting it to NCMEC allowed them to avoid criminal charges.

The proliferation of CSAM online makes the idea of ridding the internet of it feel very daunting. While some companies do report CSAM images to NCMEC and the authorities, not all do.

If you come across content that you feel is inappropriate, please report it to the appropriate agencies or authorities.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

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 Child Sexual Abuse Material: How to Deal With It first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

New Efforts to Protect Teens on Snapchat

Mike — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 20:22:34 +0000

Protections for teens on Snapchat have been slow coming and lacking features of other social media competitors.¹

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

Last week Snap Inc., Snapchat’s parent company, released a group of new features targeting 13-17 year olds on the platform. These new features are designed to create a “more age-appropriate viewing experience.”²

But what draws teens, drug dealers³, and those looking to sexually exploit teens to Snapchat?

The Myth of Security on Snapchat

Snapchat’s primary appeal is its perceived security.

Disappearing messages and images, combined with the gamification of “snap streaks,” makes the platform appealing to teens.

The former is also what draws people with untoward intent to Snapchat. The promise of being able to disappear.

The Anatomy of a Snap

Users can send texts, images from their camera roll, and images/videos taken with the app, known as snaps, within a conversation.

Unless texts, images, or snaps are saved to the chat, they disappear after viewing, or within 24 hours. Further, snaps can be set to disappear immediately after viewing, with the ability to view them a second time, or to be retained if the receiver saves the snap.

However, users can retain messages by saving them to the chat, taking a screenshot, or saving them to camera roll. The last two options will send a notification so the sender knows what’s happening with the content.

On the other hand, if a user uses a third-party application, not the built-in screenshot method, to record the screen, no notification will be sent. I bring this up to reinforce the fact that things that happen online can last forever.

See the latest research on criminality related to social media:

Social Anxiety and Loneliness in Online Solicitation Offenders

See more articles related to social media

What are the New Features Protecting Teens on Snapchat?

Safer Contact
- In-App Warnings
  - A warning pops up if a teen adds someone who isn’t in their phone’s contacts and they don’t share enough mutuals with.
- Stronger Friending Protections
  - Higher number of mutual friends before Snapchat recommends someone. As well as requiring a higher number of mutuals before allowing a friend request to happen.
New Strike System for Accounts Promoting Age-Inappropriate Content
- Content promoted by media organizations, verified creators, and random users is vetted to ensure age appropriateness. Violations result in content, then accounts being removed.
Education About Common Online Risks
- Informational productions created in conjunction with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about:
  - Catfishing
  - Financial sextortion
  - Taking and sharing explicit images
  - And more

Accessible via parents.snapchat.com, a handy family center walks parents through the process of setting up an account for themselves and their children with both text and videos.

However, the protections offered are predicated on parents setting up a child’s account. If your child created an account without your knowledge, you’re out of luck.

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

How do Other Social Media Apps Protect Teens?

YouTube and TikTok are the most used apps by teens. Occupying spots three and four are Instagram and Snapchat.⁴

I’ll quickly eliminate YouTube and TikTok. Because the former doesn’t have messaging, and the latter has limited messaging capabilities.

Instagram allows users to send text, pictures, and videos and has taken extra steps in utilizing AI to:

Identify problematic accounts⁵
Blur images that may contain “sensitive media”⁶

Both of these technologies are available to Snapchat, but aren’t utilized.

Protecting teens on Snapchat, particularly young girls, from unsolicited explicit images should be paramount.

“…adolescents often underestimate risks and perceive greater potential benefits from risky behavior.”
Smith, Chein, and Steinberg, 2014

Protecting Teens on Snapchat is Secondary to Profits

There is a fundamental disconnect between management and reality about how Snapchat is used. Beyond understanding its usage, particularly teens on Snapchat, executives don’t understand how users get their apps. When called before congress, Snap’s executives weren’t able to answer why their app is rated differently between devices and app stores.⁷

Furthermore, the measures designed to save teens from themselves are invasive. The in-app warnings require teens share their contact list with Snapchat. While this is an opt-in feature, it is still an invasion of privacy.

Matters that concern privacy should always be opt-in, especially for teens.

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?

Using AI for Fun and Profit

An artificial intelligence was released earlier this year, called “My AI.” It was marked for wide-release to all Snapchat accounts on February 27.

A journalist at the Washington Post created an account posing as a thirteen year old. The artificial intelligence engaged in discussions about sexual relationships and alcohol with that user.

Contrary to their guidelines, My AI wasn’t adjusted for age-appropriateness. Consequently, teens on Snapchat are now being exposed to explicit talk from peers, older people, and machines.

Again, Snap Inc seems more interested in “moving fast and breaking things” to capitalize on tech buzz than ensuring the safety of teens on Snapchat.

Separating Moral Panic from Reality to Protect Your Teens on Snapchat

Even though I’m not a fan of the business model of monetizing users against their will, I do believe that Snapchat can be a valuable outlet for teens.

Teens need to feel a sense of security and privacy to talk to their friends. They also need to be included in the now-integral to life social media experience.

But this doesn’t change the fact that teenagers are prone to taking risks without considering consequences.⁸ Fostering healthy emotional development starts at home.

Creating an open environment to discuss concerns and experiences starts long before your child asks for Snapchat. Put in the work as a parent, build mutual trust.

After you’ve formed that foundation, it’s much easier to give them freedom to explore safely.

And with your oversight.

TL/DR

Snapchat needs to do more to protect teens and be a better steward of social media.
Parents need to create an environment that fosters mutual trust.
Teens need to feel free to explore and secure enough to ask for advice.
Parents can visit parents.snapchat.com for more information about how Snapchat is helping them to protect their children.

References

Snap’s Dangerous New AI Risks Exposing Children to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse EndSexualExploitation.org ↩︎
Introducing New Safeguards to Protect our Community values.snap.com ↩︎
When one pill kills NBCNews.com ↩︎
Teens and social media: Key findings from Pew Research Center surveys PewResearch.org ↩︎
What’s Being Done to Protect Teens on Instagram and Messenger? DrJensRecoveryReadings.com ↩︎
Updates to the Sensitive Content Control about.instagram.com ↩︎
YouTube and Snapchat were asked to defend their apps’ age ratings in Senate hearing TechCrunch.com ↩︎
The Current Landscape of Adolescent Risk Behavior National Library of Medicine www.NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov ↩︎

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

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 New Efforts to Protect Teens on Snapchat first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

What’s Being Done to Protect Teens on Instagram and Messenger?

Mike — Sun, 09 Jul 2023 22:16:00 +0000

Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, will be using automated systems and giving parents more visibilityto protect teens on their platforms.

How Does Meta Currently Protect Teens?

Prior to these latest changes, Meta already did the following:

Messages to teens from adults over 19 are blocked, unless the teen follows the adult
Teens receive safety notices when messaged by adults who have previously exhibited suspicious behavior
“Take a Break”
- Suggests taking a break after scrolling for a ‘certain amount of time’
- Daily Limit, allowing users to set a maximum amount of time in the app
Quiet Mode: limits notifications and messages when enabled

See the latest research on criminality related to social media:

Social Anxiety and Loneliness in Online Solicitation Offenders

See more articles related to social media

What are the new features?

The following features, available in the US, UK, and Canada to start, rolled out on June 27, 2023.

Invites for DM

Adults must now send an invite to connect via direct message. Only one invite is allowed to be sent per day, limiting the reach of potential abuse on the platforms. This limit is lifted if the teen follows the adult sending the message.

Text Only

All new message requests will be text only. No photos, videos, voice messages, or calls will be accepted until the invite is approved. While not perfect, it will limit abuse.

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?

Managing Time to Protect Teens

Meta has finally acknowledging that outside influences aren’t the only way their platforms can harm teens.

When a ‘Take a Break’ message comes up, it will recommend teens set a reminder to stop scrolling. During focus testing, “more than 90% of teens keep these reminders on.”

‘Take a Break’ will also expand to include Facebook. Facebook’s explicit limit will be 20 minutes. Unlike Instagram’s vague, ‘a certain amount of time.’

Meta is exploring a nudge that will suggest teens close the app if they’re scrolling Reels at night.

Quiet mode will be expanding globally in coming weeks.

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

Additional Parental Supervision to Protect Teens

Meta is giving parents a bigger window into their teens’ activities online.

When a teen blocks someone, Instagram will suggest the teen allows their parents to supervise their account.

Parents with access will now be able to see mutuals of both followers and those following their teens.

Meta has also expanded options for notifications from Parental Supervision on Instagram.

Conclusion

All of these tools are a good start, but it can’t replace having an actual conversation with your child.

Don’t let a billion dollar company be the medium you use to communicate with your children. Sit them down and talk to them about the realities of an always-connected world.

Link to Meta’s Post on these updates.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

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

The post What’s Being Done to Protect Teens on Instagram and Messenger? first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

How to do Primary Prevention and More

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:59:44 +0000

My reading over coffee this morning was a great article in Time Magazine about moving the US toward the primary prevention of child sexual abuse, a front page Wall Street Journal article about child predators using TikTok to gain access to victims and my first moderately threatening troll comments on a webinar on my YouTube page.

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

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Primary Prevention vs Secondary Prevention

Let’s start with the Time Magazine article. This article, entitled America Has been going about stopping child sex abuse the wrong way, was written by Elizabeth Letourneau and Luke Malone.

Elizabeth Letourneau is the Director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at John Hopkins. Luke Malone is an award winning journalist who writes about child sexual abuse and victimization.

Reading this article this morning felt very validating.

When I teach to LEO or other mental health professionals, I discuss how the US is very good at secondary prevention but not so good at primary prevention. Meaning, once we catch someone AFTER they have abused a child, the system is relatively good at holding them accountable. That includes: mandating treatment during incarceration and/or after while the person is on probation or parole.

This is secondary prevention. We work hard to prevent ANOTHER sexual assault from happening.

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

How should we do Primary Prevention?

Primary prevention, meaning we prevent the FIRST sexual assault from happening is not something our system is very good at.

Much of the teaching puts the onus on potential victims to stop potential assault rather than putting the responsibility on the abuser. This would be primary prevention.

Some other countries have done a better job at this and I point to Project Dunkelfeld in Germany. There, a person who is concerned they may offend against a child can call a program and receive treatment. The treatment program is publicly advertised and funded.

In the United States, for every $1 spent toward prevention research, $2700 is spent on incarcerating offenders. They also discuss current research projects that are working on ways of improving and increasing primary prevention in the US.

The authors have a book coming out at some point which I look forward to reading.

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

Child Predators on TikTok

This app has made it big! They made it to the front page of the Wall Street Journal, a paper noted more for discussing financial markets than sexual abuse.

The WSJ featured an article discussing how TikTok has quickly become an avenue for child abusers to find and groom victims.

Those of us in the field have known this for some time.

It’s good to see it make the front page. Perhaps parents will read the article and start to monitor what their children are doing on the app. Frequently, there is little parental oversight on social media apps which leads some children to be vulnerable to predation.

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

YouTube Trolls

Finally, to my first troll. I awoke this morning to some comments on a webinar on my YouTube channel about treating individuals with pedophilia. The comments were not surprising, but disappointing.

The person commented that I was an “intellectual” who should be “purged.” They made traditionally stereotypical comments about people who commit sex crimes needing to be beat up or killed. Though, in my mind, I made many replies, I have long ago learned that social media repartee with folks with strong but uninformed opinions goes nowhere.

So, to end my morning coffee, I simply reported them for making threats. Then I began my day of working in secondary prevention of sexual abuse.

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

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

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

The post How to do Primary Prevention and More first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Dick Pic Culture: How do Teenage Girls Navigate it?

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Sat, 28 Jan 2023 17:11:26 +0000

Instagram and Snapchat mAPPing drawing exercise. (CLC2, Year 10 girls) Figure 1

As I sit to write this, I’m experiencing something I never anticipated in my professional life. I just wrote the phrase “Dick Pic Culture” in the headline.

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Beyond just my blog, I can’t believe I’ll be writing about a study from a respected, peer reviewed scientific journal with the words Dick Pic in the title.

When I started working with problematic sexual behavior nearly 20 years ago, I did not foresee this. Yet here I am, writing, again, about research involving young women being sent pictures of men’s penises. And just how often those pictures are sent without consent.

Enough Shock. Now the Study.

Drawing of a faceless dick pic on Instagram: “Anonymous: that’s what boys do” (Swans, Year 9 girls) Figure 5

I recently came across this study, published in 2021, by researchers in the United Kingdom. It addressed the experiences of teenage girls being sent “dick pics” and it was done in a rather creative way.

The study examined a number of situations. The first was the unwanted receiving of the pictures from older men on Snapchat. Then they asked the girls (aged 11 to 18) about their experiences receiving these images from their same aged peers.

In the United Kingdom where the study took place, sending a picture of your genitalia to someone under the age of 18 is a sexual offense.

A 2018 survey in the UK of women aged 18 to 24 found that 47% of those women had received an unsolicited image of a man’s penis.

46% of those women received the image from an adult man before they were 18 years old. Therefore, nearly half of the women in that study were a victim of a criminal offense.

For this study, the authors ran focus group discussions combined with an arts-based method of social media post drawing to provide a space for the girls to share their experiences. The researchers worked with 144 girls between the ages of 11 and 18 who were all in school.

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 Results

Drawing of Snapchat Private Message: “Dick pick from weird boy in Ireland” (Swans, Year 8 girls) Figure 6

76% of the girls in the study had received a dick pic and, for the most part, these images were not requested.

However, despite these images being unwanted, the girls did not usually report the sender either to the social medial platform or their school. They stated that it was easier to block or ignore the sender than to report them.

Additionally, 70% of the girls had been asked to send nude images of themselves. The standard manner in which this is done is by sending an unsolicited dick pic in an attempt to solicit a trade of nude images.

The researchers refer to this as a transactional dick pic. Images sent by peers are often sent to be transactional.

How Does Dick Pic Culture Reflect on the Victim?

The study’s respondents reported stigmatization if it becomes public knowledge that they received a dick pic. There is an assumption that the girl would have sent an image in return, even if they didn’t. If the trade is refused, she may be subject to the anger of the sender. Or the sender might outright lie about getting a nude image in return.

When someone that the girls thought was a friend sends an unsolicited image, the respondents reported their reaction goes from feeling disgusted, to feeling awkward around the friend to the process being normalized.

Many reported that it was more “of a big deal” when they received a dick pic from someone they thought of as a friend.

When the sender was a friend, it brought up trust issues in the friendship and awkwardness when they would see the sender as they could not unsee the images.

The authors of the study do point out that not all girls are bothered by the receiving of unsolicited sexual images. Some girls have come to associate being sent these images as a sign of desirability.

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.

What do the Authors Think About Dick Pic Culture?

Drawing/ Mind Map Covering Online Sexual Assault and Sex Education (SELC, Year 10 girls) Figure 11

The authors conclude that apps such as Snapchat have been integral in the increase in prevalence of unsolicited penis pictures.

In talking to the girls, they also found that they did not consider receiving these images a form of sexual harassment and, because of this, they more often than not, did not report the senders either to the app platform or to school officials.

In their conclusions, the authors suggest adopting the concept of online sexual harassment and image based sexual harassment. Doing so will help everyone involved better understand what happens when image sharing becomes a nonconsensual practice. Whether that be an unsolicited dick pic or the nonconsensual re-sharing of a consensually shared image.

A Perspective for the US

In the US, we tend to only take the sending of unsolicited sexual images seriously if the recipient of the images is a minor. This is a criminal offense.

When the recipient of the images is an adult, there appears to be little legal recourse.

This brings to mind an article recently published by the Canadian Lawyer Magazine, where Michael Spratt argues that the unsolicited dick pic should be criminalized, but with care.

Reference: Ringrose, J, Regehr, K. & Whitehead, S. (2021). Teen Girls’ Experiences Negotiating the Ubiquitous Dick Pic: Sexual Double Standards and the Normalization of Image Based Sexual Harassment. Sex Roles, 85, 558-576.

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

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 Dick Pic Culture: How do Teenage Girls Navigate it? first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

How to Protect Your Child from Sextortion

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 15:44:20 +0000

Yesterday, the FBI released a statement warning about the dangers and rising rates of online extortion of children. This story has blown up all over the national news. While I am happy to see this issue get the attention it deserves, I feel as though the FBI is a little late in warning about sextortion.

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

In 2016, I wrote the now outdated book, The New Age of Sex Education: How to talk to your teen about cybersex and pornography in the digital age. Children being sextorted was an issue then, though not as common as now.

How does this Happen?

Children (and adults for that matter) are online all the time.

This may be social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok. They are posting content, talking to people, and generally doing what kids do. While these apps can be a great source of connection and information, there is always a dark side.

If someone’s account is not set to private, anyone can contact you. The individuals that are going to groom, manipulate or extort someone will follow, comment or direct message (DM).

The relationship grows. It often moves to a chat app like Kik and where the victim will send pictures of themselves. These can be anything from simply sexy to overtly sexual images or videos.

Not everyone who does this is looking to extort the child. Many individuals who are engaging in this behavior are sexually offending and with no financial motivation.

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.

The Demand

If the motivation of the individual is extortion, very quickly after receiving a video or image, there is an extortion demand. They ask for money; we often see the number $7500 being asked of our clients.

If the money is not paid, the threat is that the extorter will then post and share the sexual images to the child’s social media accounts, send to parents, family members, friends, etc.

We have had many adult clients who have had this happen and are so ashamed that they simply pay the money and hope it goes away.

If they do not pay the money, the threats can escalate and be very harassed.

Ultimately, sometimes the person’s images end up being posted.

When the victim of extortion is a minor, the shame and embarrassment often induce them to stay silent. Unlike adult victims who may have access to money, most minor victims do not which leaves them more vulnerable.

The mental health impacts of this victimization are very serious, and the FBI reported that many of the victims have turned to suicide.

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?

What can a parent do to prevent sextortion?

The first thing to do is to talk to your child about the internet, privacy and who they are talking to online.
- Online communication are part of their cultural norm. We are not going to stop it, so children need to be informed about risk.
Parents need to know what their children are doing online and on their phone.
- Know what apps they are using.
- Know whether they have social media accounts.
- Be aware of hidden social media accounts that kids often make and keep from their parents.
Parents need to be open, non-shaming and available to talk about sex, sex education and sexuality with their children.
- Do not assume that they are too young to learn about digital sexuality.
- Do not assume that school will take care of this education.
- Many parents are uncomfortable talking about sex in general and even more so with their children. Get educated, acknowledge that the talks are awkward and have them with your children anyway. And have them often. This creates an environment where your child will feel more comfortable coming to you if there is an issue.

If you or your child are the victim of this type of crime, please contact your local police department or the FBI.

If you are seeking counseling for issues related to this type of victimization, please contact our office at www.sexualaddictiontreatmentservices.com or 610-844-7180.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

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

The post How to Protect Your Child from Sextortion first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Blocking Porn: Browsers – How to Decide?

Mike — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 16:21:12 +0000

Welcome to the next installment of our series Blocking Porn: Browsers. This is just a small piece of advice for content blocking for the top 4 most popular¹ browsers and some privacy-oriented alternative browsers.

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

As always, it’s important to have a conversation about WHY content is being blocked whether it’s for your friend, your partner, or your child. Installing this software without the user’s consent isn’t just malicious, it’s illegal in some jurisdictions.

Technology can’t replace healthy communication in a relationship, it’s merely a tool to help better our lives.

Chrome

Google’s Chrome browser owns almost two-thirds of the market and has great customization options. It is available across all common desktop and mobile platforms.

There are also a few drawbacks, including Google’s constant spying on everything you’re doing, but that’s a whole different discussion.

Extensions

The easiest way to block porn in Chrome is by using extensions. Google Chrome Extension Store

These are the top two recommended blockers:

If you sign into your browser, your extensions will sync across your desktop devices. Meaning on PC, Mac, and ChromeBook all of your extensions SHOULD work. Chrome on iOS (iPhone/iPad) doesn’t support extensions and on Android support can be spotty. We’ll cover other options for blocking pornography on mobile devices in later installments in the series.

Alternate Search Engines

You aren’t required to use Google for search, even if you use Google’s Chrome browser. If you’ve set up Bing to be your safe search engine of choice, changing the default search engine is fairly straightforward. Instructions from Google.

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

Apple Safari

Safari

Safari is the default browser on Apple devices, including Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It’s not available for PC, Linux, Android, or Chromebooks.

Just like with Chrome, and the next two browsers, Safari has the ability to add extensions to add functionality, including restricting access to certain types of sites. Safari DOES support syncing extensions, bookmarks, and other settings across all supported devices.

Extensions

The top recommended extension for Safari to block pornography is Porn Blocker Plus – for Safari, available in the App Store.

Alternatively, the top extension from Google’s Chrome has been ported to Safari’s extension eco system: BlockSite.

Edge

Microsoft’s Edge browser is available on all major desktop and mobile platforms and is built on the Chromium framework. This is the same framework that underpins Google’s own Chrome browser. As such, it has excellent support for extensions, because they don’t need to be completely re-written from Chrome.

Extensions

Edge’s extensions store, which is very similar to Chrome due to their sharing the same framework, is available here. Chrome’s top content blocking extension is available on Edge as well, BlockSite.

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.

Firefox

Firefox is a unique browser, built by the Mozilla foundation. It’s a privacy-focused browser and the developers are very transparent in their operations. And it’s available for all major desktop and mobile platforms, and just like all the others has its own extension store.

Extensions

BlockSite is here again. Mozilla also recommends Impulse Blocker by raicem.

Special Note

In an effort to prevent browser extensions from peering over your shoulder, Firefox does not allow them access in Private browser windows by default.

To ensure your extensions are enabled in in-private windows:

Go to the Add-ons Manager
Click on the 3 dots of the extension you want to enable
Click manage
In details, select Allow for “Run in Private Windows”

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.

Alternative Browsers

Brave Browser

Brave

Brave, developed by Brave Software, Inc., is a privacy oriented, chromium based browser. It will block ads and trackers by default. Brave uses the Chrome web store for extensions. They also offer their own search engine, as the default option.

Iron

Developed by German company SRWare, the Iron browser is built on the Chromium framework with privacy and security in mind. It’s available for Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Android but is missing from iOS. While content filtering is not built into Iron, extensions are available.

Opera

Another Chromium-based browser solution with a unique user interface, Opera offers a wide variety of extensions, called addons in Opera, and themes to choose from. It’s available for Windows, MacOS, Linux, ChromeOS, Android, and iOS.

Other Tips

To avoid the temptation of circumventing controls, uninstall all other browsers from the device.
Make sure to check the settings of any installed extensions and ensure they’re enabled for private/incognito windows.
Be careful of extensions that don’t have a lot of reviews or downloads; the extension stores aren’t well moderated.
To function properly, extensions MUST access all of your browsing data, be sure to check the privacy policies of all extensions to see what they do with your data.

Anecdote: While writing this article I installed a Chrome filtering extension and got hit with pop-ups that tried to redirect me to install additional, known-malicious extensions. It was blocked by my network’s filtering system so it didn’t affect me, but take heed of my warning to check reviews and download numbers before allowing extensions I didn’t mention here access to all of your browsing data.

Wrap Up

The most popular extension, by far, is BlockSite. The free version will block pornography, paid subscriptions will add additional features and may help to improve your productivity. It also offers additional installation options on desktop and mobile devices that can do more than just filter browser content. I’ll cover this more later in the series.

Whatever option you choose, it’s important to remember that this is only one piece of a much larger plan, and part of that plan is being honest and having frank discussions about the ramifications of pornography addiction in your life and the lives of those you love.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

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 Blocking Porn: Browsers – How to Decide? first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Why did Google Remove Covenant Eyes?

Mike — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 21:03:14 +0000

Maybe you’ve noticed that Google removed the popular “accountability” apps Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You from its Play store last week.

Maybe you haven’t, and that’s probably for the best.

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

What are accountability apps?

These apps can filter undesirable content, such as pornography, and “other questionable material” from devices. More than just filtering, though, they offer to allow someone to be your accountability partner. They can send either immediate alerts or a digest of activity.

Having someone else hold you accountable in your efforts to be productive or curb a compulsive behavior sounds great, right?

Absolutely! If it’s done willingly.

Why were they removed?

And why is this article about Covenant Eyes on a blog about mental health?

Covenant Eyes’ Response

Accountable2You’s Response

During an investigation by Dhruv Mehrotra for Wired, it was discovered that the Android versions of these two apps used the accessibility features of Android devices. Accessibility features are intended to help those with hearing or vision impairments. Unfortunately, these apps used these features to monitor and report all device usage, even innocuous behavior.

That wouldn’t be an issue if your accountability partner is someone you have selected and trust, but therein lies the problem.

Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You have large outreach projects dedicated to getting churches to use the apps. In other words, to assist the churches in controlling and monitoring the behavior of parishioners under the guise of strict adherence to the church’s beliefs.

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

Consent versus Coercion

Threatening, pressuring, or strongly recommending, an individual consent to having their digital activities monitored is not consent.

More than just standard filtering and monitoring, Accountable2You also flags LGBTQIA+ content regardless of whether or not it is pornographic in nature. This is the “other questionable material” I referred to earlier. My issue is not that LGBTQIA+ material is blocked or flagged, but that any topic related to it is flagged in a similar fashion to hardcore pornography.

Pressuring people, vilifying them for whom they love, and monitoring all of their digital moves can create intense shame for the individuals being monitored. Particularly if they don’t conform to the heteronormative ideals of some religious organizations.

Shame encourages people to hide, withdraw, or turn to maladaptive coping mechanisms. Therefore, shame can make the initial behaviors worse. More about shame from Dr. Jen here and here.

Google has chosen to remove these apps from their store using violations of their technology policies because condemning them for violating users’ privacy rights is too political. Time will tell if Google steps up in favor of individual rights over appeasing a small but vocal and wealthy minority.

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

What to do about Covenant Eyes after these revelations?

Broadly speaking, if you’re using an accountability app and you feel you were under duress when you selected your accountability partner, it’s time to re-evaluate that relationship and your continued use of the software.

If you still want to use one of these solutions on a non-Android platform, Windows, MacOS, or iOS, they are still available. You can still use them on Android because they can be “side-loaded” using instructions on the company websites.

If you would like a simple, straightforward filtering solution without the shame, check out BlockSite, for desktop and mobile devices.

For those of you who’d like accountability monitoring and filtering, I recommend EverAccountable, for desktop and mobile devices. EverAccountable also uses mental health friendly language in relation to how to handle slips and relapses.

An Important Note about Privacy

The Wired article referenced above also talked about third-parties having access to data from these apps. One, in particular, called Fortify was singled out because the company was cagey about revealing its third-party partners in its privacy policy and it sent the user’s password, along with other data, in plaintext to Facebook.

Transparency in a privacy policy is key and obfuscating passwords is Software Development 101. These kinds of mistakes call in to question the security of the entire app.

I did a quick read through of the privacy policies of both alternatives I mentioned above and saw no red flags, but I encourage you to read through them yourself.

If you are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, local to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, and need support a great place to start is the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center.

Need support and not local to the Lehigh Valley? Check out the LGBT National Help Center.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

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 Why did Google Remove Covenant Eyes? first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.