UK : The number of people reporting being raped by someone they met on a dating app or website has risen six-fold in five years, official figures show.
There were 184 rape allegations in 2014, up from 33 in 2009, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
It said 85% of the rape victims were women and of these, 42% were aged 20 to 29 and 24% were between 40 and 49.
The agency said it was concerned the number may be under-reported, and it encouraged victims to come forward.
More than nine million people in the UK have signed up to dating websites and in India more than 100 million people have signed up to dating websites.
'Make people aware'
Sean Sutton of the NCA's Serious Crime Analysis Section said further work was needed to understand the increase, but the team was considering whether this could include:
The fact that people feel protected online, and their communication can escalate rapidly to become sexual in nature, leading to mismatched expectations
Deliberate targeting of online sites and apps by those who intend to commit sexual assault
Victims having more confidence to report assaults to the police
Whether more people are spending time in private on a first date
"This initial work clearly raises a lot of questions and we will be working with academia to build a more complete picture," Mr Sutton said.
"Our aim here is to make people aware of the potential danger, so they can be better prepared and make the choices that are right for them.
"A rape victim is never at fault and we do not want the circumstances in which these assaults take place to cause any victim to doubt that.
"Sexual assault is a crime, full stop, and we want victims to feel confident reporting it to the police."
2. Meet in public - Stay in public. The safest plan is to meet somewhere public and stay somewhere public. Make your own way there and back and do not feel pressured to go home with your date. If you feel ready to move to a private environment, make sure your expectations match your date's.
3. Get to know the person, not the profile - The way people interact online is not always the same face-to-face. Do not be offended if your date is more guarded when meeting in person or if things do not progress as fast face-to-face.
4. Not going well? Make your excuses and leave - Do not feel bad about cutting a date short if you are not keen. You do not owe the other person anything, no matter how long you have been chatting or what has been suggested.
5. If you are raped or sexually assaulted on your date, help is available - Contact Rape Crisis or The Survivors Trust for more information and advice.
COURTESY : BBC UK
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