I would suggest you look into idea of locating Non-Governmental organisations who are into helping sextortion victims. Interacting and forming a partnership with them will definitely go a long way in giving you access to their clients.

I agree with Opeoluwa Akinradewo , NGOs can be of great help.

What is your definition of sextortion? Did you check social media to see if there are groups created about this?

Hi Isabel,

Per your definition, you may also place an announcement in some type of newspaper, other type of media outlet, or use social media to recruit potential participants.

Have a great day!

--Adrian

Opeoluwa Akinradewo Usama Rehman Thanks both - I think this is certainly something I may need to look into next. The only concern put forth by my supervisor could be an element of bias if individuals have already chosen to seek support through these organisations for their experience. I will certainly explore this further, so thankyou!

Laverne A. Davis The definition used is that sextortion "is the act of forcing someone to do something, particularly to perform sexual acts or for financial gain, by threatening to publish nakes pictures of them or sexual information about them". I have tried to utlise social media including twitter, facebook, reddit and other forums. But I think I will continue to see If I can find groups specifically created on this. Thanks for your suggestion.

Daniel Doss Thankyou for your suggestion. Social media has been my main go to at present, but unfortunately has produced little response.

Thank you for the explanation Isabel. Make certain that when you ask for potential participants, you give that explanation. I have never heard of that word before, and it sounds like a very interesting topic.

My main source of participants for any research studies I have done in the past has been social media, especially facebook. However, you have a very specific criteria and I am not sure how many males will admit to this.

If I can help in any way let me know as I am usually at the psych department.

Best wishes as you embark on the survey Isabel Woodford

Thankyou Opeoluwa Akinradewo - I appreciate it!

Gareth Thomas I find social media can be such a useful tool, in an undergraduate dissertation looking into societal attitudes of individuals implicated in rape - I managed to get 300 participants just through sharing online. For this reason, along with the contextual "naturalness" of an online approach, I had hoped the response to be better. As you say, it is such a specific area and I anticipated the difficulties in individuals coming forward - although had hoped the survey being anonymous would encourage individuals. I think there is an issue where people aren't even aware that what has happened to them is an offence. I appreciate the offer of support!

Heather Douglas Hi Heather - absolutely. In my information sheet I detail the subject area but worry that my information sheet and informed consent sheet is too "wordy" and off putting. Thank you so much for the research suggestions to take a look at, that is extremely helpful and hopefully will give me some ideas on how to move forward with this.

Heather Douglas An interesting point in that article Heather, and something I had previously considered was the idea that perhaps these individuals may not label themselves as victims of sextortion. Which ties in with your suggestion of giving a brief description rather than using the term.

I'm having similar difficulties with my own dissertation as I'm also targetting a specific audience.

On your advertisements on social media are you putting its on sextortion? Maybe it would be useful to use a little deception to gather more participants by not directly stating what the research is about- that was the advise given to me.

Keep reposting too and hopefully more people will respond.

Isabel do you have an update on your research so far, I would be interested to know if your recruitment improved and if so what did you change?

Gareth Thomas Hi Gareth. Thanks for keeping an interest in the project. Unfortunately, nothing too much to update. I'm awaiting on ethical clearance for the changes I have made. These changes included:

-simplifying language used on the information sheet etc and not using the word "Sextortion", but using descriptions

-I've also updated the adverts/posters in the same manner, and included a QR code so that (if cleared) posters can be placed in areas e.g. men's toilets and the code be scanned to take them to the research

-I also explored further the stance of implied consent used with surveys, and removed the lengthy consent form.

-I'm also looking into using adverts seperate from my personal facebook page as I feel that this may be off putting for potential participants due to the sensitive nature of the topic

I will let you know if all is cleared and whether this improves participation.

Isabel sounds like its going progressing well. Its amazing that you can use a QR code like that. I look forward to hearing how it moves forward.

It is very deep, but if it is anonymous could be easier. Go to ONG or foundations that help this kind of people maybe they help you

IVGC