UK Wedding News
09/02/2016
The figures have been published by analysts at the National Crime Agency (NCA).
According to the NCA's Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS), which supports police investigations into serious sexual assaults committed by strangers, there has been a significant increase in the number of people that were raped during their first face-to-face meeting following initial contact through an online dating website or app.
In 2009, there was 33 reports of such an incident, but this figure stood at 184 in 2014. It is also double the number of rapes reviewed by SCAS involving bogus taxis.
Of those rape victims, 85% are women, and 15% are men.
Of the men, 25% of victims were aged between 15 and 19.
Sean Sutton of SCAS said further work is needed before potential reasons for the increase are fully understood, but the team is looking at whether this could include the fact that people feel protected online, and their communication can escalate rapidly to become sexual in nature, leading to mismatched expectations when they meet for the first time.
There are also concerns of the deliberate targeting of online sites and apps by offenders who intend to commit sexual assault – there was some evidence of coercion and persuasion being used by offenders to encourage (often reluctant) victims to meet sooner than they would like.
Victims having more confidence to report assaults to the police could be another potential reason for the increase, as could more people spending time in private on a first date and possibly putting themselves at risk. For example, 41% of victims had spent time in private on their first date.
Furthermore, 71% of rapes that occurred on the first face-to-face meeting following online contact were committed at the victim's or offender's residence.
Sean Sutton, Head of the NCA's Serious Crimes Analysis Section, said: "More than nine million Britons have logged on to online dating sites, and the majority have found that they are a convenient and safe environment to find a relationship.
"This initial work clearly raises a lot of questions and we will be working with academia to build a more complete picture. However this will take time and we wanted to release our headline findings at the earliest opportunity.
"Our aim here is to make people aware of the potential danger, so they can be better prepared and make the choices that are right for them. A rape victim is never at fault and we do not want the circumstances in which these assaults take place to cause any victim to doubt that. Sexual assault is a crime, full stop, and we want victims to feel confident reporting it to the police."
Martin Hewitt from the National Police Chief's Council, added: "Regardless of the circumstances, sexual activity against your will is a crime. The Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS) works together with every police force in the country ensuring that victims are supported when they take the difficult step in coming forward to report these serious offences."
George Kidd, Chief Executive of the Online Dating Association, commented: "Dating services account for about a third of all new relationships and the friendships, romances, marriages and families that these bring about.
"Sexual assault or abuse is never acceptable. Even one incident of harm is one too many. The NCA is right to look at what happens online and the ODA are already working with them in getting the right messages out to people.
"We want dating to be a safe as well as great experience and take our responsibilities seriously. ODA members check user profiles, create safe-chat environments, remove anyone causing trouble, offence or harm and give users advice and guidance on how to stay safe when online and when meeting someone new."
(JP/MH)
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Number Of Online First Date Rapes Increase
The number of online-dating related rape offences has increased six-fold over a five-year period, it has been revealed.The figures have been published by analysts at the National Crime Agency (NCA).
According to the NCA's Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS), which supports police investigations into serious sexual assaults committed by strangers, there has been a significant increase in the number of people that were raped during their first face-to-face meeting following initial contact through an online dating website or app.
In 2009, there was 33 reports of such an incident, but this figure stood at 184 in 2014. It is also double the number of rapes reviewed by SCAS involving bogus taxis.
Of those rape victims, 85% are women, and 15% are men.
Of the men, 25% of victims were aged between 15 and 19.
Sean Sutton of SCAS said further work is needed before potential reasons for the increase are fully understood, but the team is looking at whether this could include the fact that people feel protected online, and their communication can escalate rapidly to become sexual in nature, leading to mismatched expectations when they meet for the first time.
There are also concerns of the deliberate targeting of online sites and apps by offenders who intend to commit sexual assault – there was some evidence of coercion and persuasion being used by offenders to encourage (often reluctant) victims to meet sooner than they would like.
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Victims having more confidence to report assaults to the police could be another potential reason for the increase, as could more people spending time in private on a first date and possibly putting themselves at risk. For example, 41% of victims had spent time in private on their first date.
Furthermore, 71% of rapes that occurred on the first face-to-face meeting following online contact were committed at the victim's or offender's residence.
Sean Sutton, Head of the NCA's Serious Crimes Analysis Section, said: "More than nine million Britons have logged on to online dating sites, and the majority have found that they are a convenient and safe environment to find a relationship.
"This initial work clearly raises a lot of questions and we will be working with academia to build a more complete picture. However this will take time and we wanted to release our headline findings at the earliest opportunity.
"Our aim here is to make people aware of the potential danger, so they can be better prepared and make the choices that are right for them. A rape victim is never at fault and we do not want the circumstances in which these assaults take place to cause any victim to doubt that. Sexual assault is a crime, full stop, and we want victims to feel confident reporting it to the police."
Martin Hewitt from the National Police Chief's Council, added: "Regardless of the circumstances, sexual activity against your will is a crime. The Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS) works together with every police force in the country ensuring that victims are supported when they take the difficult step in coming forward to report these serious offences."
George Kidd, Chief Executive of the Online Dating Association, commented: "Dating services account for about a third of all new relationships and the friendships, romances, marriages and families that these bring about.
"Sexual assault or abuse is never acceptable. Even one incident of harm is one too many. The NCA is right to look at what happens online and the ODA are already working with them in getting the right messages out to people.
"We want dating to be a safe as well as great experience and take our responsibilities seriously. ODA members check user profiles, create safe-chat environments, remove anyone causing trouble, offence or harm and give users advice and guidance on how to stay safe when online and when meeting someone new."
(JP/MH)
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