Digital victimization and criminal law: legal responses to harassment, sextortion and contemporary technological violence

Abstract

The expansion of digital technologies has reshaped intimidation, sexual coercion, and violations of privacy, challenging traditional categories of criminal law. This study examines contemporary criminal law responses to digital harassment, sextortion, and image-based sexual abuse, identifying regulatory, evidentiary, jurisdictional, and victimological limitations documented between 2021 and 2026. Drawing on a qualitative synthesis of twenty preselected studies, the analysis addresses five dimensions: criminalization, consent, electronic evidence, criminal investigation and prosecution, and victim protection. Findings indicate legislative progress alongside persistent difficulties in defining criminal offenses, recognizing the enduring nature of harm, and regulating synthetic sexual images. These challenges intensify when intimate content remains accessible and circulates repeatedly across digital environments without consent. Operational challenges include identifying perpetrators, preserving digital evidence, facilitating cross-border cooperation, and ensuring specialized training for legal practitioners. From a victimological perspective, reporting and punishment do not necessarily end abuse or guarantee comprehensive redress. The study concludes that effective criminal justice responses require integrating legal recognition of harm, investigative capacity, and timely victim protection, while safeguarding procedural rights. It proposes an integrated framework to guide proportionate legal reforms and cautions against equating legislative expansion with empirically demonstrated improvements in institutional responses. Such improvements must be established through rigorous outcome evaluations.