Wounded Again in Pursuit of Redress: Survivor Narratives of Image-Based Sexual Abuse in China

As a form of technology-facilitated abuse, image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) continues to evolve with each new wave of technology and consistently inflicts serious harm on survivors. While existing research has extensively documented IBSA in Western contexts, far less is known about survivors’ experiences in China, where a distinct internet ecosystem was shaped by strict state regulations and entrenched social norms. Drawing on 86 survivor narratives collected from Chinese social media platforms, this study examines the experience of Chinese IBSA survivors from discovering the abuse to seeking redress. Our analysis of the narratives surfaced three forms of IBSA through the repurposing of everyday imagery in explicit contexts, romance fraud, and public commentary; the legal, technological, and social challenges survivors faced; and the creative strategies they employed to navigate these challenges. In particular, we highlight how survivors were often re-victimized in their pursuit of justice by the very sociotechnical infrastructure meant to protect them, and how they resisted this re-victimization through their own grassroots efforts. We conclude our work by highlighting the need for survivor-centered care infrastructures across legal, platform, and community levels to foster a more accountable and supportive online environment.