Reporting of dating app facilitated sexual violence to the police: Victim-survivor experiences and outcomes

Person pressing like on phone
Abstract

This study examines experiences of victim-survivors who reported in-person and online sexual harassment and violence perpetrated by someone they met on an online dating platform to the police.

The findings show that respondents were more likely to report in-person than online sexual violence to police (14.7% vs 8.3%). Despite experiencing disproportionate rates of sexual violence, LGB+ women had the lowest rates of reporting and more negative experiences when reporting.

Overall, police are responding appropriately to reports of sexual violence. However, some groups are more likely to have negative experiences, which impacts on their intentions to report to police in future.

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