Women were made aware of the dangers of online dating

May 9, 2015 10:08 GMT  ·  By

Women in Distress, a domestic violence center from Broward County, started a campaign meant to raise awareness of abuse against women and what better place to let them know about the risks they are running than Tinder, the most popular dating app of the moment?

The initiative, known as Tinder Beater, wanted to show women using the app to find a soulmate how easily they can be tricked into making the wrong decisions.

They created three fake profiles of men who looked too good to be true, convincing women to swipe right.

However, when scrolling through their profile pictures, women realized that they gradually started showing angrier faces of the seemingly nice guys who ultimately throw their punches at them.

And the campaign seems to have been pretty effective if we were to take into consideration the reactions that women had when they learned what the issue was about.

Overall, the idea was well received, and Tinder users realized how easy it is to fall in the hands of an abuser who shows an entirely different side of him online.

Not everyone embraced the initiative

There were, however, people claiming that the whole campaign seems a little sexist, given that it targets only women, ignoring the increasingly large number of men who face the same issues but are too ashamed to admit it publicly. Men can become victims of domestic abuse as well, a thing that the campaign seems to have failed to take into consideration.

Others thought that the campaign was bad publicity for the dating app, given that by telling women that relationships built in the online environment can have dangerous consequences, then they are very likely to stop using the app for fear that a Tinder meet-up can escalate into a case of physical abuse.

So, although it may have a positive impact on women, the same thing cannot be said for the dating app which is bound to say goodbye to a few users who want to cut the chances of becoming involved in an abusive relationship.