Is my Date with Destiny or a Desperado?
Internet dating is quietly creeping up in popularity, an unspoken nod that will most likely end up with you agreeing on “we met at the library/coffee shop/random place”. Whether you choose to find love out at the grocery store or while browsing the pages of men at plentyoffish.com one thing is for sure, there are a lot of weirdos in this world.
While dating is nothing new, neither is the prevalence of assault and date rape or “acquaintance rape”. Acquaintance rape, which is also referred to as “date rape” and “hidden rape,” has been increasingly recognized as a real and relatively common problem within society. The scholarly research done by psychologist Mary Koss and her colleagues is widely recognized as the primary impetus for raising awareness to a new level. The publication of Koss’ findings in the popular Ms. magazine in 1985 informed millions of the scope and severity of the problem.
- One in four women surveyed was victim of rape or attempted rape.
- An additional one in four women surveyed was touched sexually against her will or was victim of sexual coercion.
- 84 percent of those raped knew their attacker.
- 57 percent of those rapes happened while on dates.
- One in twelve male students surveyed had committed acts that met the legal definitions of rape or attempted rape.
- 84 percent of those men who committed rape said that what they did was definitely not rape.
- Only 27 percent of those women whose sexual assault met the legal definition of rape thought of themselves as rape victims.
- 42 percent of the rape victims did not tell anyone about their assaults.
- Only five percent of the rape victims reported the crime to the police.
- Only five percent of the rape victims sought help at rape-crisis centers.
- Whether they had acknowledged their experience as a rape or not, thirty percent of the women identified as rape victims contemplated suicide after the incident.
- 82 percent of the victims said that the experience had permanently changed them.
We know that Sex offenders use online dating web sites to locate victims and 57% of attacks happen while on dates according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Don’t become a statistic.
Running a background check and criminal check should be part of your screening process. It can’t be fool proof but it’s better than going in blind. This is online dating not a blind date. Find out before you go out.
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sarah aka Sarita is a CSR at SearchBug, Inc. and assists clients in the use of Best People Search and SearchBug.com a Free People Finder and Data Scrubbing Services. |
