Rates, Age, & Impact of Exposure to Pornography
Nonconsensual Pornography, Sextortion, and Deepfake Pornography Victimization: Findings from a National Online Sample of U.S. Adults.
Open Access: No.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to estimate the percentage of adults experiencing nonconsensual pornography, sextortion, and deepfake pornography victimization using probability-based online samples weighted to the U.S. population. We used data collected from two web panels in the Fall of 2023. The surveys contained three measures about lifetime experiences of technology-facilitated sexual violence victimization with binary yes/no response options on the following violence types: nonconsensual pornography, sextortion, and deepfake pornography. Descriptive analyses were conducted in STATA to produce weighted prevalence estimates of technology-facilitated sexual violence across various demographic groups, and to perform adjusted Wald tests for the comparison of means across demographic groups. Overall, 4.33% of adults experienced nonconsensual pornography, 4.74% experienced sextortion, and 1.13% experienced deepfake pornography victimization. Prevalence estimates for technology-facilitated sexual violence victimization varied across demographic groups, with higher rates for adults who were LGB+, had a disability, or who were younger in age than those who did not experience victimization. Our findings suggest there are health equity considerations relevant to technology-facilitated sexual violence response and prevention strategy development, including the importance of considering the unique sociostructural contexts of LGB+ community members, people with disabilities, and younger adults.
Relevance
“Overall, 4.33% of adults reported experiencing nonconsensual pornography, 4.74% reported sextortion, and 1.13% reported deepfake pornography (Table 1). While there was some variation in victimization experiences by sex, the biggest variations in reports were across sexual orientation, disability status, and age. Reports of nonconsensual pornography were higher among gay or lesbian (13.78%) and bisexual (16.47%) adults than for straight adults (3.31%; F=10.81, p< 0.001). Similarly, bisexual adults reported experiencing sextortion more (15.48%) than straight adults (3.96%; F=7.07, p< 0.001). Across the board, adults who reported a disability also reported nonconsensual pornography (7.61% vs. 3.54%; F=16.24, p< 0.001), sextortion victimization (8.13% vs. 3.92%; F=17.57, p< 0.001), and deepfake pornography (2.62% vs. 0.77%; F=10.58, p<.01), and more commonly than adults who did not report any form of disability. In addition, adults who experienced each type of technology-facilitated SV were younger, on average, than those who did not experience that type of technology-facilitated SV, including nonconsensual pornography (36.05 years vs.47.62 years; F=122.52, p< 0.001), deepfake pornography (36.47 years vs. 47.64 years; F=93.88, p< 0.001), and sextortion (32.96 years vs. 47.28 years; F=84.68, p< 0.001).”
Citation
Ruvalcaba, Y., Ray, C., Zinter, K. E., Le, V. D., Berra, L., & Leemis, R. (2026). Nonconsensual Pornography, Sextortion, and Deepfake Pornography Victimization: Findings from a National Online Sample of U.S. Adults. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 55, 2357-2362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-026-03503-4
