“I did what I was directed to do but he didn't touch me”: The impact of being a victim of internet offending

Abstract The trauma of being a victim of sexual abuse is very difficult to live with, but for victims of internet offending there are added complexities for him/her in trying to make sense of what has happened. They are often “directed” by the offender to perform sexual acts on themselves and/or others, which creates huge confusion for the victim in terms of even using the common language of perpetrator/offender because of the victim needing to make sense of the fact that they touched themselves and/or others in many incidents and, for them, does this make them the perpetrator? The perpetrator role of being the “director” needs to be explored with the victim in the very layers of what this means as opposed to the perpetrator doing the touching, but also needs to be considered in treatment programmes when often internet offenders debate the “I didn't touch her/him”. This paper will explore the complexities as a therapist working with victims of internet abuse as well as the impact of this on assessment and treatment of internet offenders.