‘We Work in the Grey Around Decision Making’; How ‘Thematic Discretion can Help Understand Police Decision-Making in Cases of Youth Image-Based Sexual Abuse

By Alishya Dhir

In this paper, I argue that a new term, ‘thematic discretion’, can help us understand police decision-making in cases of youth image-basedsexual abuse (YIBSA). YIBSA can be defined as harmful image-sharing practices amongst young people, inclusive of the non-consensual sharing of private sexual images, upskirting and cyberflashing,alongside other actions. I will be drawing on findings from a doctoral research project investigating YIBSA, which utilised a mixed methods approach, comprising of quantitative analysis of freedom of information requests from 40 police forces in England and Wales, as well as 26qualitative interviews with police and non-police practitioners, also based within England and Wales. Research findings established thatYIBSA is highly complicated, and as a result, police officers utilised discretion at a considerable rate, alongside crafting their own guidelines to direct their decision-making, which is argued to be steeped in sexistand victim-blaming narratives

Policing and Society, An International Journal of Research and Policy, Volume 35, 2025 - Issue 2