Dating apps have seen exponential growth over the past 10 years, but a new report this morning highlights their use comes with a shockingly high risk of online and in-person sexual violence for users.
Three quarters (72.3 per cent) of dating app users indicate they have experienced such violence in the past five years, according to the new data from the Australian Institute of Criminology, surveying 9,987 dating app or website users in the country.
Meanwhile, one in three users have experienced in-person sexual violence perpetrated by someone they have met on a dating app or website. This figure covers acts including having drinks spiked and being physically or verbally pressured to partake in unwanted sexual acts.
The research found that lesbian, gay and bisexual people were more likely to experience both online and in-person sexual violence.
Online violence from dating apps and websites includes online sexual harassment, abusive and threatening language, online stalking and online image-based sexual abuse (IBSA).
In-person violence, according to the research includes sexual assault and coercion, reproductive and sexual health-related abuse, in-person IBSA and in-person stalking.
A further breakdown of the research revealed that 45 per cent of respondents have been subjected to abusive and threatening language, while 27.6 per cent had been stalked online.
Then in the “real world”, 27.3 per cent of dating app and website users said they had been subjected to sexual assault or coercion. Almost 20 per cent had been subjected to reproductive and sexual health-related abuse – which includes someone lying about their sexual health status.
Overall among heterosexual respondents, 79 percent of women said they had experienced some form of online violence, compared with 61 per cent of men.
For LGBTQ+ respondents, 87 per cent of women reported abuse, compared with 79 per cent of men.
And indicating abusers might be closing accounts to set up new accounts and avoid action being taken by dating app providers, half of the respondents who said they were subjected to online or in-person sexual violence said the perpetrator had blocked or unmatched them, or deleted their own account afterward.
The study’s authors declared the high rates of abuse as “highly concerning” given the potential long-term impacts associated with such experiences.
“These impacts include poorer health and wellbeing, including overall life satisfaction, social isolation and lower self-esteem, as well as increased risk of re-victimisation.”
Last year, Match Group – the parent company of dating apps Tinder and Hinge, announced it would start working with law enforcement to implement a new reporting system for sexual assault in Australia. The “portal”, which could be accessed by NSW police, was deemed a world first, as Match Group also announced it may start using artificial intelligence to “red flag” potential sexual predators on its dating apps. The move followed a 4 Corners and Triple J Hack investigation which highlighted the failure of dating apps to repond to reports of sexual assault.
The authors of this latest report noted that “there is an obvious need to develop mechanisms for protecting users”.
If you or someone you know is in need of help due to sexual assault or family and domestic violence contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732
In an emergency call 000.