When Illawarra man Tom* matched with a woman on the dating app Hinge recently, things seemed to be going well.
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The pair started talking and quickly moved the conversation to Snapchat, where they began exchanging more intimate photographs; naturally, Tom thought the woman had taken a keen interest in him.
But an hour after their initial contact, things went south: the woman was not who she said she was and they (Tom suspected it might have actually been a man and a woman behind the profile) demanded money or else they would send the photos of Tom to his family and friends.
"I didn't care about the photos, that was the least of my worries to be honest," Tom said.
"I just felt so used and manipulated."
Tom is far from alone in this experience of the online dating world.
Data from the Australian Institute of Criminology shows that almost three-quarters of almost 10,000 dating platform users have been subjected to online sexual harassment or violence, while over a third have suffered harassment or violence from someone they met in-person through an app.
And Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures released on Thursday also reveal there were 824 reported blackmail and extortion - including 'sextortion' - offences in NSW in the year to December 2022.
A new AIC report shows only 8.3 per cent of those who experienced online sexual harassment or violence through a dating app reported it to police.
Tom has not reported his encounter to police; with the images having been sent on Snapchat (which removes photos once they have been viewed) and the conversation deleted, he feels there is no point.
Among the people who were subjected to in-person sexual harassment or violence from someone they met through a dating app, only 14.7 per cent went to police.
AIC report authors Siobhan Lawler and Hayley Boxall said their findings highlighted the importance of challenging beliefs that online forms of sexual violence were less serious than that experienced in-person.
"Not only were victim-survivors of these crimes less likely to report them to the police, they were less satisfied with the response they received when they did," they said.
When it came to dating app experiences, men were more likely than women to make a report to police.
Neither gender nor sexual identity affected the likelihood that a person's report of online harassment or violence was investigated by police.
However, while over 70 per cent of both heterosexual men and LGBTQIA women said their reports of in-person harassment or violence were investigated, this figure fell to 57.1 per cent among heterosexual women.
But AIC deputy director Dr Rick Brown said LGBTQIA women had the lowest rates of reporting, and those who did report were more likely to have had a negative experience than other people.
"Overall, police were found to respond appropriately to reports, and levels of satisfaction with reporting and investigation processes were high," Dr Brown said.
*Not his real name
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
