Do Dating Apps Enable Sexual Predators? A Retrospective Evaluation

• In Event: More Severe Violence in Sexual Assault

Abstract

Few studies have been published on dating app-facilitated sexual assaults resulting in a significant research gap on the phenomenon. An overview of published literature findings on the phenomenon will be shared. The research question for this retrospective, exploratory study was to evaluate differences in victim and assault factors in dating app facilitated sexual assaults to other acquaintance non-dating app facilitated sexual assaults. Data was collected from sexual assault medical forensic examination forms and coded into SPSS for descriptive analysis. Victims of dating app-facilitated sexual assaults were found to have higher rates of mental illness, a significant vulnerability for sexual assault. Study findings indicated that dating app-facilitated sexual assaults were more violent than non-dating app-facilitated SAs with higher percentages of strangulation, penetrative acts, and anogenital injuries suggesting that violent sexual predators may utilize dating apps to identify vulnerable victims. The presenters will also share legislative policy actions implemented to address this growing problem in a Mountain West state. Discussion on potential steps to increase safety of dating apps will be explored.

Authors

• Julie Valentine, University of Utah

• Leslie Miles, Brigham Young University

• Elizabeth Dowdell, Villanova University