Pornography
Investigation finds sharp rise in sexual assaults linked to dating apps
A recent investigation by the Telegraph has found that the number of rape, sexual assault and stalking cases linked to dating apps has rapidly increased in the past five years.
Since the beginning of 2017, 8,366 predatory offences linked to apps such as Tinder and Bumble have been reported.
The investigation found a 175 per cent increase in the number of police cases linked to dating apps, from 699 in 2017 to 1,922 in 2021.
Campaigners are calling on developers of dating apps to prioritise user safety and have warned that dating apps are equipping predators “with yet another tool”.
Director of the End Violence Against Woman Coalition, Andrea Simon, stated, “Dating apps are a really popular way for people to meet each other, but there is also a really worrying side to the way perpetrators are exploiting this to meet potential victims.”
A recent survey found almost half of people who had reported someone or had safety concerns when using a dating app were dissatisfied with the response.
Jayne Butler, chief executive of Rape Crisis, commented that dating apps have, “provided perpetrators with yet another tool for targeting potential victims – and one that offers them an easy way of targeting multiple women and girls at the same time.”
“We also need to see greater accountability for tech companies, enforcing them to address sexual violence on their platforms and creating penalties for those that fail to prevent and respond to it.”
Ms Butler called for the tech industry to work with experts in violence against women and girls to “identify abuse risks at the design stage”.
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