According to the NSPCC, ‘Sextortion’ refers to a form of blackmail that involves the threat to distribute intimate, sexual images of someone unless that person meets certain demands.'
Demands might include paying money, buying vouchers, sending more images or videos, performing sexual acts or staying in a relationship. Tragically, such incidents have led to a number of children dying by suicide as a result of the shame and fear endured.
When targeting children and young people, perpetrators often manipulate or coerce them into sharing explicit images or videos online. Increasingly, abusers are also using public photos from social media to create AI-generated fake intimate images. Once they have received or created such material, offenders threaten to send it to the victim's friends, family, and wider social circle unless their demands are met. This devastating form of blackmail can be carried out by adult online predators, but it can also occur between peers who know each other.
According to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) Annual Data & Insights Report 2025, over a quarter of all child sexual abuse material found online is 'self-generated'- meaning a child was blackmailed or coerced into capturing it themselves, very often from the false safety of their own bedroom.
The report highlighted that sexually coerced extortion has shifted from an emerging issue into a mainstream risk, driven heavily by organised criminal syndicates. The IWF handled 397 major sextortion cases (a 127% year-on-year increase), and an overwhelming 98% of these sextortion victims were older teenage boys aged 14 to 17. The report emphasised how incredibly fast these financial blackmail schemes move, with perpetrators rapidly escalating demands for money and content.
Why Language Matters
Because it sounds like a catchy buzzword, the term 'sextortion' can inadvertently send a message to children that what they are experiencing isn't serious. When a word sounds trivial, children may feel like adults won't take their situation seriously. This can cause them to downplay the threat's severity or try to handle the blackmailer’s demands entirely on their own.
The NSPCC recommends using the more accurate term sexually coerced extortion when reporting or recording incidents, as it better reflects the gravity of the crime.
However, children, on the other hand, are much more likely to use the following language to describe their experiences (from Childline):
- "Being blackmailed"
- "Threatening to leak my nudes"
- "Getting scammed" or "Played"
- "Getting tricked"
- "Making fake/AI nudes of me"
Teenagers have explicitly stated that they want adults to use the language they use. If schools only use heavy administrative terms, it creates a disconnect, making it harder for students to recognise the threat or feel comfortable talking about it openly.
Find out more about the importance of language
What Can Schools Do Right Now?
Actively Promote the Report Remove Tool
Foster a reporting culture
The IWF report emphasises how quickly a single mistake snowballs: "What starts as one sexual interaction... can turn into hundreds of online child sexual images."
Furthermore, offenders use the threat of exposure to demand more content.
Schools must foster a reporting culture that breaks this cycle early. Safeguarding leads need to reassure students that coming forward after the first threat stops the snowball effect. If students know the school will treat them as victims of sexually coerced extortion rather than rule-breakers who sent an inappropriate photo, they will seek help before the perpetrator forces them to create more material. Strong, trusting relationships between staff and students are critical for this.
Provide Comprehensive Relationships Education
The IWF report highlights that older teens are the primary targets, but the threat profile splits dramatically by gender. Boys account for 98% of financially motivated sexual extortion cases, while girls are overwhelmingly targeted by relational leaks, harassment, and AI deepfakes designed to humiliate them.
Single-sex assemblies or targeted workshops are highly effective. Schools should talk to boys explicitly about the financial scams running on gaming and social media platforms. Simultaneously, they must educate all students about the degrading nature of sharing imagery of peers, emphasising that sharing or viewing sexualised imagery of classmates not only goes against school policy, but is illegal.
The DfE RSHE guidance states that children should learn about sexually coerced extortion from Key Stage 3. Resources from CEOP and the PSHE Association can support schools to cover this. But it is important that children are learning about consent and healthy relationships from the early years onwards to create the foundational knowledge for such learning.
Other resources to help
