DATING'S DARK SIDE

AFTER SOME SHOCKING DEATHS, CALLS GROW TO MAKE DATING APPS SAFER FOR WOMEN

- Jodie Wolf

The online world has dramatically evolved over the years. But there is a darker side to our digital lives, particularly when it comes to dating. Apps such as Bumble, Hinge and Tinder may connect singletons across the globe, but in some shocking cases, sometimes swiping right can lead to danger. How well can you really get to know someone over a device, and how safe does that make your in-person dates?

According to a survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology in October 2022, three-quarters of respondents had been subjected to sexual violence on dating apps within the past five years. Fifty per cent of victims said that they were unmatched or blocked by the perpetrator to avoid being caught. With no criminal history checks currently in place on dating apps, crimes continue to be committed with no way for users to trace the guilty. Victims detail harassment and violence, and in some devastating cases, death is the outcome. Yet currently, there are no moves to implement stricter rules surrounding dating safety online.

In 2018, in a horrifying story that shocked the world, British backpacker Grace Millane, 21, was heartlessly murdered in a hotel room in Auckland by her Tinder date, Jesse Kempson. Her body was found in a shallow grave in New Zealand’s Waitākere Ranges. She had been strangled, and bruises on her body revealed that she had been restrained.