Dragana Vidosavljević*
SEXUAL EXTORTION AS A NEW FORM OF DIGITAL EXPLOITATION: CHARACTERISTICS AND LEGAL CHALLENGES
Summary
The author explores the phenomenon of sexual extortion in the online environment, as an increasingly widespread form of sexual violence on the Internet. The aim of the paper is to examine whether and to what extent existing criminal offenses in the law of the Republic of Serbia provide adequate protection against various forms of sexual extortion. Based on the above, the structure of this paper consists of three parts: first, conceptual and terminological dilemmas are considered, where the author points out inconsistencies in defining the term sexual extortion and the challenges that may arise from the plurality of definitions of this phenomenon. In the second part of the paper, guided by recent research in this area, the author provides a final overview of the basic characteristics of sexual extortion, pointing out the difficulties in systematizing the findings, and in the last and main part of the paper, the author critically examines the existing legal framework, points out the practical and interpretative problems of bringing this behavior under valid incriminations, and provides concluding statements on the subject.
Key words: sexual extortion, sexual blackmail, sextortion, threath, material gain.