Dating apps a new emerging platform for sexual harassment a scoping review pubmed
Dating Apps: A New Emerging Platform for Sexual Harassment? A Scoping Review
Huang ET, Williams H, Hocking JS, Lim MS. Huang ET, et al. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2016 Nov 8;4(4):e124. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.5760. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2016. PMID: 27826133 Free PMC article. Review.Dating Apps: A New Emerging Platform for Sexual Harassment? A Scoping Review
Currently, dating apps are one of the most popular platforms for meeting romantic and sexual partners. However, little is known about the potential for sexual harassment on these platforms. In the current scoping review, we sought to examine what is known about sexual harassment facilitated through smartphone dating apps. We searched for studies that reported on sexual harassment via dating apps through PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo, Communication Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, and IEEE Xplore databases. Twelve studies addressed the risk of sexual harassment on dating apps. We found that sexual harassment when using dating apps is prevalent and ranges between 57 and 88.8%, with two populations being at higher risk: women and individuals who identify as a sexual minority. In terms of forms of harassment, sexual harassment via dating apps can take place online (e.g., being sent unsolicited images, or "dick pics") or offline (e.g., a face-to-face meeting that was arranged on a dating app). Experiencing sexual harassment on dating apps is associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, loneliness, early childhood maltreatment, less perceived self-control, and lower self-esteem. Some studies suggest that experiencing sexual harassment on dating apps reflects social structures and appears differently in different groups (e.g., among sexual minorities). More research is needed to capture the prevalence of adult sexual harassment via the use of dating apps, the different forms of harassment, risk and protective factors, and social and cultural structures that facilitate this kind of sexual harassment.
Keywords: dating apps; scoping review; sexual harassment.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Similar articles
Echevarria SG, Peterson R, Woerner J. Echevarria SG, et al. J Sex Res. 2023 Oct;60(8):1193-1205. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2022.2130858. Epub 2022 Oct 14. J Sex Res. 2023. PMID: 36240457 Review.
Dietzel C. Dietzel C. Sex Cult. 2022;26(3):834-852. doi: 10.1007/s12119-021-09920-y. Epub 2021 Oct 29. Sex Cult. 2022. PMID: 34744415 Free PMC article.
Garga S, Thomas M, Bhatia A, Sullivan A, John-Leader F, Pit S. Garga S, et al. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Apr 15;23(4):e21082. doi: 10.2196/21082. J Med Internet Res. 2021. PMID: 33856354 Free PMC article.
Huang ET, Williams H, Hocking JS, Lim MS. Huang ET, et al. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2016 Nov 8;4(4):e124. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.5760. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2016. PMID: 27826133 Free PMC article. Review.
Marcano Belisario JS, Jamsek J, Huckvale K, O'Donoghue J, Morrison CP, Car J. Marcano Belisario JS, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Jul 27;2015(7):MR000042. doi: 10.1002/14651858.MR000042.pub2. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015. PMID: 26212714 Free PMC article. Review.