A shocking freedom of information request has revealed that 28 crimes against gay and bisexual men in Manchester were related to the dating app, Grindr.
Grindr has been heavily criticised after a freedom of information request revealed that 28 crimes reported by gay and bisexual men in Manchester were related to the gay dating app. These crimes took place between 2013 and 2016.
Fourteen of those crimes resulted in rape or sexual offences against the victim. Theft, non-sexual violence and drug trafficking were also reported.
The news comes after a series of high-profile murders in 2016 including,
The serial killer Stephen Port, who used Grindr and other gay dating apps to lure his victims, all young men under the age of 25, to his home before drugging and killing them.
Stefano Brizzi also used Grindr to find his victim Gordon Semple.
In November a teenager, Ben Bamford in Sussex, was found guilty of murdering a man he found on the dating app.
John Leech, who will now lead a campaign to get dating apps to display safety notices. Speaking about Grindr and Tinder he said,
“It is completely unacceptable that neither of the two leading dating apps display safety alerts or notices at any point from download to real life use, not even anything as simple as meeting somewhere public and letting a friend know where you’re going.
“Something as serious as rape has an enormous and life-shattering impact on so many lives, from the victim to their friends, family and co-workers.
“Tinder and Grindr should not be let off the hook over such a serious and shocking lapse in care to their users.
“They must introduce safety alerts immediately and dramatically increase the safety of users, and they must do it now.”
Grindr does have a full set of tips on how to keep safe whilst using the app.
