The corresponding term in Australia is dacking, from the slang word "dacks" for trousers. In Scotland the process is often known as breeking from the word "breeks" meaning trousers. In New Zealand the act is known as giving someone a down trow; in Ireland jocking (Although this mainly refers to the act of placing one's foot on the trousers of the debbaged and pushing them, causing them to fall and for their trousers and maybe underpants to be removed).

De-pantsing is a common prank of pulling down a victim's pants. The prank commonly occurs in high school gym classes as a form of bullying. Its most extreme form includes running the pants up the school flagpole. Some U.S. colleges before World War 2 were the scenes of large scale "depantsing" scraps between freshman and sophomore males. It is also an initiation rite in fraternities and seminaries. It was cited in 1971 by Gail Sheehy as a form of sexual assault against grade school girls, which did not commonly get reported, although it might include improper touching and indecent exposure by the perpetrators.The United States legal system has prosecuted it as a form of sexual harassment of children.

Debagging can be used as a form of bullying, and is technically the crime of simple assault. The practice has been likened to a ritual emasculation. In 2007, British Secretary of State for Education and Skills Alan Johnson, in a speech to the NASUWT, criticized such bullying, and criticised YouTube for hosting a movie (since removed) of a teacher being debagged, saying that such bullying "is causing some [teachers] to consider leaving the profession because of the defamation and humiliation they are forced to suffer" and that "Without the online approval which appeals to the innate insecurities of the bully, such sinister activities would have much less attraction."

Juanita Ross Epp is highly critical of teachers who regard pupils debagging one another as normal behaviour, saying that debagging makes pupils feel intimidated and uncomfortable, and that "normal is not the same as right".

There is a sexual fetish subculture in this type of debagging which is known as sharking which means males pulling up or down females' clothing for sexual reasons. This is an illegal act in most parts of the world

Videos of sharking are popular in Japan produced by Jade Phi company. It seems that not all females in the videos are actresses

Debagging is commonly performed in schools by both boys and girls, and is a popular form of attack. Girls will collude with dominant boys in targeting weaker boys for debagging, and may also single out those boys that do not share attributes with the dominant male group without the help of or the instigation of boys. Interestingly enough, however, higher class neighborhoods have shown that debagging can be a status symbol, with more popular or richer children being playfully debagged.

Angling: This variation is performed only on males. It is performed while the victim is using a urinal, and it involves both pants and underwear being pulled down to the ankles. As the victim is using the urinal, he cannot pull up his trousers immediately.

Ghosting. This is a special form of debagging where the trousers are pulled down slowly so that the victim does not realise they are being pantsed.

Swooping. This variation is performed on a running victim, usually on grass. The pants are pulled down in such a way that the victim is tripped and falls out of the pants, and/or underwear, as might be the case.