Ashleigh Lawrence, Nichola Corbett-Jarvis: Experts speak on online dating app abuse

A Far North lawyer and lecturer are addressing sexual harassment faced by mobile dating app users, after a report revealed nearly three quarters of users had experienced it.

A Far North lawyer and lecturer are addressing sexual harassment faced by mobile dating app users, after a report revealed nearly three quarters of users had experienced it.

According to the Australian Institute of Criminology report, behaviours reported by respondents ranged from being continually contacted by someone after they told them they were not interested (47.2 per cent), through to being threatened (18.9 per cent), and having images or videos taken of them without their consent (12.7 per cent).

Over a third of respondents said they had been subjected to sexual harassment, aggression or violence in the “real-world” by someone they had met through an online dating platform.

Senior law lecturer at CQ University Nichola Corbett-Jarvis said over a quarter experienced stalking, and 18.8 per cent would experience sharing of intimate images without consent, which was an offence under Queensland legislation but currently without many prosecutions.

Ashleigh Lawrence, solicitor at the North Queensland Women’s Legal Service, said inconsistency from dating apps on protection and responses on offer created a significant problem.

Nichola Corbett-Jarvis from CQ University. Picture Emily Barker

Ashleigh Lawrence from the North Queensland Women’s Legal service. Picture Emily Barker

“There is an offence under the Commonwealth criminal code about using a carrier service to menace, harass or cause offence and I did see somebody charged with that in relation to an abusive email but how often used by police for dating apps, I don’t know,” she said.

Under-reporting was commonplace due to shame, past trauma, normalisation of overly sexualised behaviour and sometimes cultural issues, according to Ms Lawrence.

She recounted a recent case she knew of, where a woman’s nightmare with sexual and domestic violence began through a dating app and though a DV order was in place currently, the woman did not want to press charges.

Ms Lawrence said the woman was living overseas when she met her partner, an Australian resident, via a religious dating app.

He visited her within a couple of months and then the woman got pregnant and came to Australia on a tourist visa where very soon, her partner’s behaviour changed and she started to experience physical violence.

Though he seemed easygoing at first, the woman believed the knowledge that she was in her 30s and wanted to have a family, was used to manipulate her.

“Her partner was rude to her and the airline staff on the flight,” Ms Lawrence said.

“He would try to make her eat food — and when she refused because she was already full — throw it in the bin. He knew she doesn’t like to waste food, being from a poorer country.”

The woman’s partner did not like the conservative way she would dress and would tell her to “upgrade yourself”, Ms Lawrence said.

“She was referred to True Women’s Health clinic but is not ready to talk about the sexual assault, doesn’t want to proceed with pressing charges, and would rather forget that it happened,” Ms Lawrence said.

Stills from the Dating App Safety Project. Picture: Supplied

“Given her religious beliefs and background, she minimised the behaviour because in her culture divorce was uncommon and the focus was on trying to work things out and be a family so the children didn’t grow up without a father.”

There wasn’t enough data at the moment on how many DV cases stemmed from initial contact through a dating app, which according to Ms Lawrence was worth documenting.

“In January 2023, a national roundtable was held in relation to dating app safety and sexual assault in association with dating apps,” she said.

“Out of that has risen a request by government to create industry code of practice by dating apps for dating apps by mid 2024 and if not satisfied with response, the government has threatened to legislate in this area.”

In the interim, a local educational response to technology facilitated violence — the technical term — has been crafted through a collaboration between NQWLS, CQU law and creative arts last month, addressing the gap identified between reporting of cases, current legal pathways and support from dating platforms.

A series of three videos have been released to educate users about intimate image sharing, dos and don’ts resource especially for seniors new to the online dating space, and one about red flags to look out for.

Ms Corbett-Jarvis and Ms Lawrence said the recent laws allowing naming of alleged perpetrators of sexual violence was a positive step and hoped it would impact community perceptions against victim blaming and not believing their stories.

Originally published as Ashleigh Lawrence, Nichola Corbett-Jarvis: Experts speak on online dating app abuse