The rise of mobile dating app Tinder has highlighted the dangers of online dating after three women reported to police of being sexually assaulted after an encounter with a person using the app. Tū Wāhine Trust, a women's support agency, is calling for more monitoring support.
Waitematā Police are investigating two rape complaints that came about from Tinder. Now, a Māori women support worker is calling for iwi and hapū to help these vulnerable women.
This follows after a tourist from New Zealand was gang-raped after being introduced to a man she met on Tinder.
It also comes two months after Queensland man Gable Tostee was charged with the murder of New Zealand woman, Warriena Wright. They too, met through Tinder.
Tinder is a dating mobile app which has been around for three years, it connects with Facebook users to provide pictures and your age for other users to view using GPS technology, meaning it can locate your where bouts.
There are up to 10 million active daily users around the world. Lee Chisholm from NetSafe, an organisation committed to keeping people educated about how to be safe on social media, says the accessibility of Tinder is concerning.
“People are going to use these Apps, people also meet at the pub or at night club or somewhere else really, and the similar thing could occur through meeting someone anywhere really but because the tools are there those people who want to misuse that will do so,” says Lee Chisholm.
NetSafe says its inevitable new dating apps like Tinder will only grow in the future, but encourages users to think twice.