Images: Match Group
Tinder parent Match Group has been working with the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) to audit the company's policies and practices for reporting and preventing sexual violence within its dating apps, executives tell Axios.
Why it matters: Online dating has become the main way people meet prospective partners, giving the services a key role to play in efforts to prevent sexual assault.
Details:
- The initial phase of the review will focus on three Match properties — Tinder, Hinge, and Plenty of Fish — though the company hopes to use the learnings across its portfolio.
- RAINN has already started working with Match and expects to spend the next several weeks understanding how its systems and processes work and then making recommendations.
Between the lines: The move comes just two months after Match hired former police officer and Uber safety executive Tracey Breeden as its first head of safety.
What they're saying:
- RAINN CEO Scott Berkowitz: "There are companies that approach safety as just risk mitigation and then there are companies that approach it as a moral obligation and feeling like they owe it to they customers. The companies we try and partner with are the latter."
- Match head of safety Tracey Breeden: "Corporations need to understand we have a role to play and it's an important role. There are actions we can take that not only create safe spaces on the platform, (but also) create safety beyond that."