Citation

Henry N, Gavey N, Johnson K. Violence Against Women 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/10778012221114918

PMID

35989679

Abstract

Scholars and practitioners increasingly acknowledge the ways that abusive partners create, distribute, or threaten to distribute intimate images without consent, yet little empirical research has comprehensively explored image-based sexual abuse within intimate partner contexts. This article responds to this gap and reports on the findings of a study involving interviews with 29 women and one gender-diverse person who experienced image-based sexual abuse as part of a pattern of "coercive control." The authors argue that abusive partners use intimate imagery as a means of exerting power and control, and as a tactic of intimidation, entrapment, and degradation. They note that law, policy, and practice responses should recognize the gendered nature of image-based sexual abuse and its growing use as a means of coercive control.

Language: en

Keywords

domestic violence; coercive control; image-based sexual abuse; intimate partner abuse; nonconsensual pornography