We applaud The Rape Education and Prevention Program (R.E.P.P.) at St. Joe’s for their #TakeBackTheSwipe event Oct. 26. The event provided safety guidelines for using online dating apps and gave a space for victims of sexual harassment through dating apps to share their stories.
According to data from the Pew Research Center, 55% of women under 50 who have used dating apps say they have been sent a sexually explicit message or image they didn’t ask for. Forty-three percent have had someone continue to contact them after they said they were not interested, 37% have been called an offensive name and 11% have received threats of physical harm.
R.E.P.P.’s event was a step in the right direction for members of the St. Joe’s community who are part of the nearly 40 million Americans who use online dating services or dating apps and sparked important conversations. But, more work needs to be done.
All in all, dating apps have the potential to do much more in ensuring the safety of their clientele, such as enforcing criminal background checks on all users when joining a site. Over six in 10 Americans agree, and say dating sites should require background checks before being allowed to create a dating profile, according to Pew Research Center data. Women being more likely than men to say these checks should be required seems reflective of the demographic that is most likely to experience harassment on dating apps: women under 50. This includes college-aged students.
Students can help protect themselves, too. They should rely on more trustworthy and wide-scale dating apps like Hinge, Bumble, Grindr or Tinder, should research potential matches on social media prior to meeting up and report questionable individuals as soon as possible. Sexual violence or sexual harassment may be reported to St. Joe’s Office of Title IX & Equity Compliance. Their office is located at Campion Student Center, Suite 243.
However, the university can also use more direct language in the Student Handbook to explain what constitutes online misconduct. Currently, any references to online misconduct are buried in long policy statements about off-campus actions, or brief mentions of dating violence that never specifically mention online dating or online dating platforms. With the responsibility to update the policies as necessary, the university has fallen short in terms of specificity and consistency in the midst of online dating danger, which is becoming more prevalent each academic year.
Our hope is that in the future, the university will have more of these events that will, in turn, result in more direct and up-to-date policies on online dating violence.
