Lily Goldberg is a Columbus native and an Ohio State University graduate. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in public health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a focus in health behavior.
If you’ve ever used dating apps, you know that swiping almost feels like a game.
It’s fun to see who you match with and where those matches can lead you. But that’s the problem with dating apps.
We treat them as a game, and with games there are no serious implications involved. However, this assumption is false.
I experienced alarming consequences from using dating apps on Independence Day 2020 when I was raped by a man I met on a dating app.
More:What to do if you experience harassment on dating apps
I began showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder after the assault, my depression worsened, and my anxiety heightened.
Unfortunately, I am not alone in my experiences.
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Sexual violence, an umbrella term for assault, abuse, harassment, rape, stalking, and other abuse is disgustingly common on dating apps, with women and the LGBTQ+ community members being disproportionately affected.
In a recent study from The Journal of Sex Research, 88.4% of college student respondents had experienced at least one instance of sexual violence on a dating app. The Australian Institute of Criminology found similar results in their study, with three out of four respondents experiencing an instance of sexual violence on a dating app.
More:Child sexual assault and abuse: They’re more common than Ohioans may think
These data are alarming.
Even with these startling statistics, there is only one well-known dating platform that has addressed the adverse effects of sexual violence on dating apps. Bumble has recently partnered with Bloom, an app that provides …….