Friday, 29 Mar 2024

Scale of sexual violence online ‘difficult to comprehend’, minister says ahead of Australian roundtable

Scale of sexual violence online ‘difficult to comprehend’, minister says ahead of Australian roundtable


Scale of sexual violence online ‘difficult to comprehend’, minister says ahead of Australian roundtable

The scale of sexual violence linked to online dating is "difficult to comprehend", the communications minister has said, with representatives of Tinder, Bumble and Grindr due to join a national roundtable in Sydney on Wednesday.

"People who cause harm in the digital world must be held accountable as they would for their actions offline," Michelle Rowland said.

"We want to know what industry is doing to prevent and address harm on their services, and what more is possible."

Rowland and the social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, will convene the meeting in Sydney on Wednesday. Every state and territory will be represented by ministers responsible for domestic violence, women's safety and the digital economy.

Officials from Bumble, Grindr and Match, the parent company of Tinder and OK Cupid, will attend the meeting. Also present will be the federal domestic and sexual violence commissioner, Micaela Cronin; the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant; Teach Us Consent founder and activist Chanel Contos; and experts from health and safety organisations such as Full Stop, Anrows, Our Watch, Wesnet, Acon and the National Women's Safety Alliance.

Rowland pointed to an October report from the Australian Institute of Criminology, which found in the past five years three in four survey respondents had been victims of sexual violence perpetrated by someone they met through online dating - including sexual assault, coercion or image-based abuse.

The minister said the government was "concerned by unacceptable levels of abuse and harassment" online.

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