Nonconsensual Pornography Among US Adults: A Sexual Scripts Framework on Victimization, Perpetration, and Health Correlates for Women and Men

Objectives: This study examines rates of nonconsensual pornography victimization and perpetration in the United States, as well as health correlates of victimization. Nonconsensual pornography (aka "revenge porn") is defined as the distribution of sexually explicit images without consent, and is a growing form of image-based sexual abuse. In this study, we assessed rates of nonconsensual pornography victimization and perpetration among online U.S. adults using an inclusive definition of nonconsensual pornography (i.e.. distributed through any method for any reason). Method: Online surveys were made available to adult U.S. residents via Facebook. Facebook Ads Manager was used to apply a proportional quota sampling technique to target and collect data from men and women in each of the 50 U.S. states proportionate to their representation in the nation's populace. Results: Of the 3,044 adult participants (54% women), 1 in 12 reported at least one instance of nonconsensual pornography victimization in their lifetime, and 1 in 20 reported perpetration of nonconsensual pornography. As predicted from a sexual scripts framework, which describes norms for men and women's sexual interactions, women reported higher rates of victimization and lower rates of perpetration than men. Women victims had lower psychological well-being and higher somatic symptoms than women nonvictims. and also higher somatic symptoms than men victims. Conclusions: Results support nonconsensual pornography as a gendered form of sexual abuse that emerging adults are especially susceptible to. In addition, nonconsensual pornography victimization has a negative relationship with well-being for women, consistent with narrative accounts and qualitative research.