A joint investigation by Four Corners and Triple J Hack has revealed how rapists and other sexual predators have been blocking or unmatching with survivors on Tinder in order to escape justice.
The unfortunate truth is that rapists are active online just as they are offline, and they’re often hard to track down. But one precaution we can take when using dating apps is to screenshot the other person’s profile.
That way, if the unthinkable does happen, you could still have their name and photos to file a report.
One survivor, Brooke, said she couldn’t report her rape to police because she didn’t have enough evidence to prove they had actually met after her rapist blocked her.
“I didn’t have his number, I didn’t know his last name, I didn’t have any photos or proof that we’d even spoken,” she said.
“So it would be like I’d just picked a random guy out, almost, and said that he’d done this.”
She only realised he had blocked her the following day.
“I guess that was probably the main reason that I didn’t go to the police,” she added.
It’s also a good idea to store those screenshots somewhere else, like in the cloud or on a computer. In Brooke’s case, her phone was thrown out of a car window by the rapist.
She was one 174 people who told Four Corners and Hack they experienced sexual harassment or assault on Tinder.
Out of them, 48 said they reported the other person, however only 11 said they heard back from the app.
Another woman who shared her story, Beth, wants the app to make it harder for rapists to evade being caught online.
“Tinder I think has a huge responsibility to understand that their whole app is causing people to be vulnerable time and time again,” she said.
In a statement, Tinder said it treats incidences of sexual assault “with the utmost urgency and seriousness” and will “always – always – work with law enforcement to help ensure that justice is served”.
“We want to be very clear: when anyone is reported to our apps for violent behaviour, we aggressively remove and block the perpetrator’s account from all of our platforms,” Tinder said.
The statement also pointed to the Safety Tools outlined on Match, Tinder’s parent company, which said when an assault is reported, Match aims to track down the offender and block them immediately.
“If you are sexually assaulted by anyone you’ve met on our platforms, and the assailant unmatches you, we are still able to access those messages and work with law enforcement if reported to us,” it said.
You can read Tinder’s statement in full here.
Of course, a screenshot alone won’t stop abusers, and it’s even possible to use fake photos and a fake name.
However as a precaution, it could be a massive help in filing a police report if something does go seriously wrong on or after a Tinder date.
You can watch the full investigation and hear from more survivors here.
Help is available.
If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
