 Hello my name is Claudia Deema. I work for West Sussex County Council within the Community Safety and Wellbeing team. Sextortion is sadly on the rise within West Sussex, yet still few people know what sextortion actually is. I hope by listening to this recording you will take away some valuable information and I thank you for your time and for listening. Sextortion is a form of blackmail where a perpetrator threatens to reveal intimate images of the victim online unless they give into their demands. These demands are typically for money or for further images. Criminals might befriend victims online by using a fake identity and then persuade them to form sexual acts in front of their webcam. Criminals will then threaten to share the images with the victim's friends and family which can make the victims feel embarrassed or ashamed and prevent them from coming forward to report the incident. This short video provides an example of how sextortion can happen. Children reporting sextortion has increased significantly compared to a year ago. Victims of sextortion are getting younger in age with children making up to 24% of reports in 2023. Older children age 16 to 17 years are nearly three times more likely to be victims of sextortion than younger children age 12 to 15. Sextortion offences disproportionately impact on male victims in both children and adults. 95% of child victims are of this demographic. Just over a third of child victims reported a loss of 36%. The median amount lost where a loss was recorded was £100. Children are most likely to pay via PayPal or by bank transfer. They are being contacted via social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat rather than through dating sites. Most child sextortion offences are taking place in the towns of West Sussex. This infographic shows how young people are being contacted and via what means. As you can see Instagram and Snapchat are the most common platforms used for sextortion to take place. Sadly there has been a shocking increase in the reports of children tricked into sharing sexual images of themselves by abusers intent on extorting money or further imagery from the victims. In the first six months of 2023 the Internet Watch Foundation, IWF, received more reports involving sextortion than the whole of 2022. Older teens 14 to 17 year olds are the most at risk with boys apparently being targeted more often. The Internet Watch Foundation and Child Lines Report Remove Service helps young people to have sexual images of themselves removed from the Internet. What did you do if you were a victim of sextortion? Please understand that in no way is this your fault and there is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. It may make you feel upset and helpless but support is available to you from trusted, non-judgmental and understanding people and organisations. Stay calm and reach out for help. Ask for assistance from a trusted adult or support helpline immediately. Preserve evidence if possible. Save messages and record any communication related to the incident. This evidence can be valuable for legal purposes and reporting the crime. Stop all communication. Discontinue any interaction with a perpetrator and block them on all platforms to prevent further manipulation or harassment. Report the incident. Contact your local police and provide them with the evidence and details of the sextortion incident. They can guide you on the necessary steps to take. Report and Remove If you're a child of under 18, images and videos can be submitted to Report Remove, an online tool developed by the Internet Watch Foundation and Child Line NSPCC to help young people in the UK to confidentially report sexual images and videos of themselves in an effort to have them removed from the Internet. Inform parents or a trusted adult. Share the situation with a responsible adult who can provide support and help in reporting the crime and assist you in navigating the emotional challenges that may arise. Seek professional help. Reach out to counsellors, therapists or support organisations specialising in cybercrime or victim support. They can offer you guidance and help you cope with the emotional impact of being sexually extorted. Alert relevant platforms. Report the offender and the incident to the platform or website where the initial contact or harassment occurred. They can take necessary action to prevent others from being victims. Be cautious of re-victimisation. Offenders can be very persistent. Despite all attempts to avoid, block and secure your personal information and online presence, they may still manage to contact you. They can be very determined. But again, this is not your fault. Try to ignore and continue to report. We have a printable Sextortion Guide for parents available on our Staying Safe Online website in the section for young people. This provides lots of tips and advice on Sextortion and how to report. If you are a victim of Sextortion, please report to Sussex Police and in an emergency, always call 999. Some of the ways you can report a sexual image or video are by contacting SEOP. If you're worried about a child sending naked images, videos or sexual messages, Childline offers 24-7 support. And if you're worried about how to support a young person who has a sexual image or video of themselves shared online, and if they are under 18, they can use Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation's Discrete Report Remove tool to see if the image can be taken down. Young people can also get support from Childline throughout the process. The National Crime Agency website contains lots of information on Sextortion. Thank you for listening to this recording.