Digital Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents 

Funding: Ministry of Justice and Public Security 

Project period: 2020–2021 

Researchers: Lars Roar Frøyland (principal investigator), Patrick Lie Andersen, Gerd-Marie Solstad, Kari Stefansen, May-Len Skilbrei (om assistentene skal med, Siri Berg Tveito og Siri Hausland Folstad) 

Research questions 

The project will, in a comprehensive literature review, map existing knowledge about digital sexual violence against children and adolescents. 

The overall aim of the project is to establish a common knowledge base for policy development in the field. Having a clear and unambiguous terminology that makes sense in a Norwegian context is paramount when designing policies and preventive measures in a specific area.

The first part of the literature review therefore aims to provide an overview of concepts used to describe different phenomena that can be categorized under the collective term digital sexual violence, both in research, in policy documents, and in the public sphere, as well as theoretical perspectives that are used in the research field.

The second part of the literature review is a systematic search of existing research on digital sexual violence against children and adolescents from the perspectives of those involved; the offenders and the victims. This part of the review will also systematize information on methods and data used in existing research on the topic.

The final part of the literature review discusses existing policy and preventive measures on the topic of digital sexual violence against children and adolescents. The project will also suggest future empirical research projects where knowledge on digital sexual violence against children and adolescents in Norway are needed. 

Data and methods 

The project is based on a systematic search of peer-reviewed literature from the period 2010 to 2020 in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and English. The search was conducted by the library of Oslo Metropolitan University. Research reports and policy documents in Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish were manually added to the database.