Cybersex, Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Sex Robots, Sex Dolls
Sexualized Deepfake Abuse as Image-Based Sexual Abuse: A Scoping Review of Platform-Mediated Circulation and Cumulative Harm.
Open Access: Yes.
Abstract
Sexualized deepfake abuse is increasingly understood as a form of image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) whose harms develop through platform-mediated circulation. This scoping review examined 54 English-language peer-reviewed journal articles published between December 1, 2017, and January 13, 2026, identified through Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCOhost, and ProQuest. Legal and conceptual scholarship predominated. Victim-centered empirical and intervention research was comparatively sparse. Claims based on direct observation were separated from doctrinal legal analysis, conceptual reasoning, and arguments about institutional response. Across the corpus, terminology shifted from content-led labels such as “deepfake pornography” toward victim-centered language that situates the abuse within IBSA. Harm was traced across production, distribution, visibility, and recirculation and was characterized as multidimensional and cumulative, encompassing distress, stigma, potential relational and occupational consequences, self-censorship, and procedural burden. Misinformation-first and celebrity-centered frames often obscured everyday victimization and unequal access to remedy. The resulting cumulative harm and response model connects lifecycle stages, harm domains, and digital justice and identifies priorities for reducing reporting burden, limiting discoverability, and coordinating support. Direct evaluations of intervention effectiveness remain scarce.
Relevance
This article concluded that “Sexualized deepfake abuse is a form of IBSA whose harms are shaped by fabrication, circulation, visibility, persistence, and the work required to obtain remedy. Across the corpus, the strongest conclusions concern the shift toward victim-centered, non-consent-based framing, the multidimensional and cumulative character of harm, and the limits of downstream moderation in addressing the infrastructure of production, discovery, and recirculation. Evidence is less conclusive on which combinations of platform, legal, and service interventions reduce harm across jurisdictions and social groups. Immediate priorities are clearer recognition, upstream governance of enabling infrastructures, auditable remedy processes, and coordinated trauma- and violence-informed support. The available evidence supports understanding sexualized deepfakes as a platform-mediated form of sexual violence whose significance cannot be reduced to falsity or isolated items of content.”
Citation
Gao, Y. (2026). Sexualized Deepfake Abuse as Image-Based Sexual Abuse: A Scoping Review of Platform-Mediated Circulation and Cumulative Harm. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380261480163
