Non-Consensual Intimate Image Distribution

Non-consensual intimate image distribution (NCIID) refers to the act of distributing nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images of someone without their consent. NCIID most commonly occurs when consensually shared intimate images are further shared in a nonconsensual way, either physically or, more commonly, through technology. It can also occur when intimate photos are stolen or retrieved in a nonconsensual way, and then further shared (or threatened to be shared). Sharing an intimate image without the subject’s consent is considered publication of an intimate image without consent and is a crime as per section 162.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

View our printable NCIID Infographic here.

NCIID often starts out as consensual “sexting;” someone creating, sending, or sharing sexual images and/or videos through electronic devices for the purpose of pleasure, sexual expression, communication, connection, or experimentation. The initial sharing of the images is consensual. What the sender doesn’t anticipate is that the trusted individual they are sharing with may then share the image with someone else without their consent.

NCIID typically occurs in three types of situations:

Individuals consensually share a sexual image of themselves with someone they are in a relationship with or hope to be in an intimate relationship with. The person receiving the image then reshares that image, either online or directly with another person, without the consent of the sender.
An individual (typically a teen) consensually shares an intimate image of themselves with someone online who is pretending to be their age and interested in a relationship with them (commonly referred to as sextortion). The sextorter will convince the individual to share further sexual images, trick them into exposing themself, or record them engaging in a sexual act without their consent. Once the content is received, the sextorter then reveals themselves and threatens to share the content with people known to the victim (parents, peers, employers, friends) unless they provide money or more sexual images. If they give in and provide more images or money, the sextorter will continue to demand more.
Intimate relationships break down and one partner wants to hurt or abuse the other. Typically, one of the former partners shares the intimate image with the other partners' family, friends, or employers to humiliate, embarrass, and abuse their former partner. They may also create fake accounts pretending to be their former partner and post intimate images on those accounts. Though this is commonly referred to as “revenge porn,” that term is not always accurate. The victim never consented to the creation of sexually explicit material for sale, and the revenge is better described as abuse and harassment (section 403 of the Criminal Code of Canada prevents someone from committing identity fraud, which the perpetrator has done by creating accounts pretending to be the victim).

Who is this happening to?

Girls - This is a gender-based crime with most victims identifying as women and girls. Police reported data shows that 86% of victims of NCIID were girls between the ages of 12 and 17 (pg. 11, Savage, 2024).

Exception - In the cases reported to cybertip.ca (Canada’s best resource for the protection of children/teens from online harms) where the gender was known, 83% of the victims are male (cybertip.ca, 2025).

Youth/Teens - This issue disproportionally impacts teens. Youth or teens in Canada are most likely to be the victim and the perpetrator of this crime. The person(s) that is sharing or resharing the image without consent may be unaware that they are committing a crime and can face legal repercussions. “Nearly all (97%) child and youth victims between 2015 and 2022 were aged 12 to 17 years, with a median age of 15 years for girls and 14 years for boys. Nine in ten (90%) accused persons were youth aged 12 to 17. For one-third (33%) of youth victims, a casual acquaintance shared the victim’s intimate images with others” (pg. 3, Savage, 2024).

Who are the
perpetrators?

When looking at non-consensual sharing of intimate images, 75% of the accused were boys and men. When girls are the accused, 95% of them are teens between the ages of 12 and 17 (pg. 11, Savage, 2024).

In the case of sextortion cypertip.ca reports that the sextortion demands for money often come from international organized criminal networks.

Why does NCIID
impact teens in
particular?

The motivations and prevalence of NCIID amongst teenagers boils down to increased access to smart phones with cameras, computers and apps combined with sexual exploration and risk-taking as a natural part of teen development and behavior. According to teenaged girls, here are some reasons why they said they sent sexual pictures of themselves:

To get closer and build a relationship with the other person
To be intimate and show that they love the person
Because they trust the person
To be liked
For the attention

Conversely, here are some reasons why teenaged boys said they asked girls for sexual pictures:

To increase their popularity
To show how powerful they are
To collect them

When asked why both male and female teens said they forwarded pictures that other people shared with them, they said:

To be popular and fit in because their friends are doing it
For a joke
For revenge / to ruin someone’s reputation
To gain status and acceptance from others

(The Students Commission of Canada, 2014.)

What are the harms?

Despite not crossing a physical boundary, NCIID still constitutes sexual violence, and survivors of this type of violence report experiencing many of the same psychological, emotional, relational, economic, and reputational harms as survivors of sexual assault, including self-blame, guilt, embarrassment, panic attacks, dissociation, distractibility, mood swings, fear of not being believed, and a decreased self-worth (Powell and Henry, 2017). Additionally, teen NCIID victims often worry about disappointing their parents, and subsequently don’t tell anyone or know where to turn for help.

It is important to note that even if the intimate images were taken consensually initially, that the blame never lies with the victim. Just as with a physical sexual assault, the assumption is that individuals should be able to engage in sexual activity consensually, safely, and without assuming that violence or crime will occur. NCIID is not entirely preventable by simply never taking an intimate photograph or video of oneself; NCIID material has been acquired secretly and without the knowledge of the victim, understandably contributing to the survivor’s feelings of betrayal, violation, and distrust.

Increasingly, NCIID can be manufactured using artificial intelligence (AI) to create deepfakes, in which non-sexual images of individuals are altered to create an image that is sexually explicit. Deepfake imagery is increasingly being used to sexually exploit and harass people. Although the images or videos are fake, the harm to those victimized is very real. Sexually explicit material is often produced without consent of the person depicted. If the content is also made publicly available online, the embarrassment and distress for the person depicted in the fake content is amplified. Similarly to the blackmailing harm discussed above, it is common for sextorters to threaten to use sexually explicit deepfakes to ruin their victims’ lives, saying they will share the deepfake with all the victim’s social media followers if they do not comply with their demands for money or new images (cybertip.ca, 2025).

What can be done
about NCIID?

If someone has shared an intimate photo of you without your consent, please know that it is not your fault. Regardless of the circumstances that premeditated the NCIID, the non-consensual distributor has done something wrong, and they are breaking the law.

As such, there are steps you can take and places to go to for help. Each of the below options outlines a different route; they may not all apply to you, but it can be helpful to know all of the resources available to survivors:

For Youth: If you, your child, or your friend is a teenager under the age of 18, please go to NeedHelpNow.ca. This webpage was created by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to answer all your questions, walk you through the steps of how to regain control of the image(s), and connect you with a support team if you wish. If you, your child, your student, or someone you know is the victim of sextortion please visit C3P’s Online Harms page for more information or make a report here.
Social Media: If your image has been posted on a social media platform, most social media platforms and apps provide options for you to report and ask to have it removed. The process for reporting depends on the social media platform. Stop NCII has links to reporting processes for major social media and online platforms.
Police: It is completely up to you to decide if you wish to report non-consensual intimate image distribution to the police. You can call the non-emergency phone line of your local RCMP detachment or city police department. It will be helpful to document what happened in writing and take screenshots of posts, messages, and texts without deleting the images or alerting the perpetrator.
Civil Legal Action: In Saskatchewan, the Privacy (Intimate images - Additional Remedies) Amendment Act, 2021 builds on existing privacy legislation to provide victims of NCIID with the power to take legal action against someone who has shared their intimate images without consent, reclaim their images, and have them removed from the internet. The definition of protected intimate images was widened to include digitally altered copies as well as original versions. The Act authorizes the court to order a defendant to return to the victim any copies or recordings and to make every reasonable effort to ensure they are unavailable to others. The court may also order internet sites to make every reasonable effort to remove or de-index all visual recordings of the victim if the perpetrator has been asked to do so, but is not cooperating. The support of a lawyer will be required to initiate this action and the costs to obtain the services of the lawyer will be paid by the victim.
Get Support: Non-consensual intimate image distribution is a form of sexual violence. Visit crsacsk.ca to find your nearest support centre or resource for counselling, information, or referrals.

For more information on talking to your youth about online harms and safety, download C3P’s free resource, Parenting in an Online World.

Sources:

Cybertip.ca, Canadian Centre for Child Protection, 2025. https://www.cybertip.ca/en/online-harms/

Dodge, A., & Lockhart, E. (2021). ‘Young People Just Resolve It in Their Own Group’: Young People’s Perspectives on Responses to Non-Consensual Intimate Image Distribution. Youth Justice, 22(3), 304-319. https://doi.org/10.1177/14732254211030570 (Original work published 2022)

Online child sexual exploitation: A statistical profile of police-reported incidents in Canada, 2014 to 2022. By Laura Savage March 12, 2024 Juristat Statistics Canada.

Powell A, Henry N (2017) Sexual Violence in a Digital Age. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

The Students Commission of Canada, Young Women and Men’s Perspectives on Self/Peer Exploitation, Adult Exploitation and Cyber Bullying: Workshop Report, March 10, 2014.