The NCA\u2019s Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS), which supports police investigations into serious sexual assaults committed by strangers, released the new figures showing that the number of female victims of online dating-related sexual assaults aged 19 and under has increased since 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SCAS reviewed data from 671 sexual assault cases reported to the NCA, which occurred between 1 April 2003 and 21 March 2021 following a first face-to-face meeting, after initial contact via an online dating website or app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These update the findings of a 2016 report, which examined the 163 cases identified between April 2003 and July 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new data shows that while the levels of this type of offending has remained fairly stable since 2015, the proportion of reports from female victims aged 19 and under rose from 12% to 22%, with the proportion of male victims in this bracket rising from 25% to 31%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The largest proportion of both male and female victims were still aged 20-29, accounting for 40% of cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victims in 83% of the 671 cases were female, 17% were male; a slight change from the previous report with a 2% increase in the proportion of male victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only offending on SCAS databases has been analysed. It doesn\u2019t include unreported incidents or offences which police forces have not sent to the NCA to be examined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Louise Vesely-Shore, Principal Analyst in the National Crime Agency\u2019s SCAS team, said: \u201cAlthough there hasn\u2019t been an overall increase in these offences since our initial report in 2016, it is notable that this form of crime continued during the pandemic, despite the substantial restrictions on people’s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA sexual assault victim is never at fault and we do not want the circumstances in which these attacks take place to cause anyone to doubt that. We want victims to feel confident reporting it to the police.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The NCA published its findings alongside separate research collated by the BBC for its documentary, \u2018Dating\u2019s Dangerous Secrets\u2019. This showed that 37% of dating app users have reported someone for inappropriate behaviour, 63% have felt uncomfortable on a date initiated via a dating app and 33% have experienced either harassment or abuse on such dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following safety advice was previously developed by the NCA along with Get Safe Online for users of online dating websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NCA\u2019s Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS), which supports police investigations into serious sexual assaults committed by strangers, released the new figures showing that the number of female victims of online dating-related sexual assaults aged 19 and under has increased since 2016. SCAS reviewed data from 671 sexual assault cases reported to the NCA, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[276,81,65,82,147,277,278,279,86],"class_list":["post-7727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-advice-for-online-dating","tag-manchester","tag-midlands","tag-national","tag-nca","tag-online-dating","tag-sexual-abuse","tag-stay-safe-online","tag-yorkshire"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDating Online? Play it safe when you meet face-to-face<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Plan it. Say it. Do it.\n\u2022 It\u2019s your date. Agree on what you both want from it before you meet up. Don\u2019t feel pressured to meet before you\u2019re ready or for any longer than you\u2019re comfortable with \u2013 a short first date is fine.\n\u2022 Meet in public. Stay in public.\n\u2022 The safest plan is to meet somewhere public and stay somewhere public. Make your own way there and back and don\u2019t 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\u2019s.\n\u2022 Get to know the person, not the profile.\n\u2022 The way people interact online isn\u2019t always the same face-to-face. Don\u2019t be offended if your date is more guarded when meeting in person or if things don\u2019t progress as fast face-to-face.\n\u2022 Not going well? Make your excuses and leave.\n\u2022 Don\u2019t feel bad about cutting a date short if you\u2019re not keen. You don\u2019t owe the other person anything, no matter how long you\u2019ve been chatting or what\u2019s been suggested. \n\u2022 If you\u2019re raped or sexually assaulted on your date, help is available.\n\u2022 No matter what the circumstances, sexual activity against your will is a crime. Police and charities are here to help and support you.\n\u2022 Readily accessible information for victims of sexual assault, however recent, can be found at: https:\/\/sexualabusesupport.campaign.gov.uk<\/a>. It hopes to help individuals make informed decisions about next steps in seeking support and to empower them with a view to ultimately increasing levels of reporting.<\/strong><\/code><\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"