Understanding the Experiences of NCII Victims: Harms, Responses, and Outcomes

Non-consensual intimate image (NCII) abuse is a form of image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) and involves the production, publishing, or distribution of intimate photos or videos without the explicit consent of the person in the image/video. This abuse includes (but is not limited to) upskirting, downblousing, sexual digital forgeries (colloquially referred to as ‘deepfake pornography’), ‘revenge porn’, sextortion and collector culture (McGlynn, 2025). NCII is a gendered harm with significantly more images of women being shared without consent than men (approximately 24x) and 97% of image takedown requests are made by women (Papachristou, 2024). This gendered threat also applies to synthetic media with most online deepfake video content rendering deepfake pornography (96-98%) with 99% of this content targeting women and/or girls (Deeptrace, 2019; Security Hero, 2023). While there is a growing body of literature outlining the nature of NCII, research examining its impact on victims remains comparatively limited. Existing studies identify a wide range of mental, emotional, physical, and financial harms, including isolation, shame, social rupture, constrained liberty, humiliation, anxiety, fear, depression, paranoia, obsessive behaviours, reputational and occupational damage, restrictions on everyday life, and, in extreme cases, suicide (Bates, 2017; Citron & Franks, 2014; Cyber Civil Rights, 2014; End Violence Against Women Coalition, 2013; Franks, 2014; Henry & Powell, 2016; Huber, 2022; McGlynn et al., 2019; McGlynn et al., 2020; Short et al., 2017; Stroud, 2014). However, with the exception of Huber (2022) and McGlynn et al.’s (2019; 2020) work, much of this research is based in the US and Australia, leaving UK victims’ experiences comparatively underexplored. The current study will begin to address that gap by conducting focus groups to explore the experiences of UK victims of NCII identified by a Police Force in the North of England. In addition to exploring the impacts and harms of NCII victimisation, the study will explore victims’ experiences of interacting with the police and support services, including perceptions of communication, decision-making, and support received. The research aims to highlight where current responses work well and where they fall short and to use these findings to identify practical ways the police and support services can better engage and support victims of NCII. This study is part of a larger piece of work which is aiming to understand, prevent and tackle NCII, specifically including sexual digital forgeries, from several perspectives. One strand of this work involves the creation of a new secure system (FORTRESS) which will support individuals over the age of 18 to identify if their likeness has been stolen for use in sexual content. As this system is in the design phase, we will be asking participants in the current study about their perceptions of FORTRESS as a future system, including optimal communication of search results and follow-up support mechanisms. Findings will feed into the development of FORTRESS, ensuring it is codesigned with those who we envisage will use it.