“Anything I could do to not have it paralyze me was welcome”: Coping strategies employed by survivors of image-based sexual abuse

Objective: Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) is a form of technology-facilitated sexual violence in which intimate photos or videos are nonconsensually taken, shared, and/or threatened to be shared. The shift to fully virtual social interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic facilitated a spike in IBSA victimization during this time, and—with many organizations functioning at limited capacity—survivors had limited resources available to them to manage the distress associated with victimization. The purpose of this study was to understand the coping strategies used by diverse survivors of IBSA during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Method: We conducted structured interviews using a trauma-informed approach. Using codebook thematic analysis, we analyzed the data from 36 survivors of IBSA during the pandemic ( M age = 31.01; two participants did not disclose age). The sample was diverse in terms of genders, races, and sexual orientations represented. Results: We identified five groups of coping strategies employed by participants: avoiding distressing feelings, reputational damage control, retaliatory sextortion, seeking emotional support, and pursuing justice. Many participants used multiple strategies to manage the distress associated with their IBSA victimization. Conclusions: Survivors of IBSA cope with their victimization in diverse ways, some of which have not been previously reported in coping strategies literature and may be unique to the experience of IBSA. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)