Rape involving dating apps
Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FIN/26/004707/G
Version Date: 17/06/2026
The Performance Analysis Department has provided the following information:
Data Source:
Crime information system – Niche
Data Processing:
Searched for the wording provided.
Data Limitations/Caveats
A mention of one or more of the dating apps does not indicate a direct link to the crime. The occurrences have not been manually reviewed.
The age of both the victim and the suspect(s) is at date reported not the date the offence was committed.
Some occurrences had more than one suspect.
Please provide data for the period beginning 1 January 2019 up to 20 May 2026.
I am requesting:
1. The total number of recorded rape allegations/offences in which any of the following dating applications were referenced within the method of attack, occurrence log, crime report, investigation notes or any searchable field:
• Tinder
• Hinge
• Bumble
• Grindr
• Feeld
• Plenty of Fish / POF
• Match.com
• Happn
• Badoo
• eHarmony
The total number of offences where one or more of the above dating apps were mentioned is 293.
- Where possible, please provide a yearly breakdown for:
• 2019
• 2020
• 2021
• 2022
• 2023
• 2024
• 2025
• 2026 (as of 20 May)
|
Year |
Tinder |
Hinge |
Bumble |
Grindr |
Feeld |
Plenty of Fish / POF |
Match.com |
Happn |
Badoo |
eHarmony |
|
2019 |
13 |
6 |
|
6 |
|
5 |
|
1 |
5 |
|
|
2020 |
16 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
|
9 |
|
|
4 |
|
|
2021 |
24 |
10 |
7 |
7 |
|
7 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
2022 |
22 |
11 |
3 |
5 |
|
4 |
|
|
3 |
|
|
2023 |
20 |
12 |
3 |
3 |
|
5 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|
|
2024 |
11 |
10 |
3 |
2 |
|
11 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
2025 |
8 |
18 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
|
3 |
|
|
2026 |
5 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
|
3 |
|
- Please also provide, where available:
• The age of the victim (or age bracket if exact age cannot be disclosed)
• The age of the suspect
• Whether the suspect and complainant were previously unknown to one another
• The specific dating application referenced
For clarity, I am referring to rape offences recorded as:
• rape of a female aged 16 or over
• rape of a male aged 16 or over
• Any equivalent rape offence classifications involving victims under 16 where the dating app was referenced
If your systems cannot conduct searches across all requested applications, please conduct keyword searches for the individual app names listed above.
If complying with the full request would exceed the cost limit under Section 12 of the Act, please:
• Narrow the search to rape offences only;
• Conduct searches using the keywords “Tinder”, “Hinge”, “Grindr” and “Bumble” only; or
• Provide whatever partial data can reasonably be retrieved within the statutory limit
|
Age of Victim at Date Reported |
Count |
|
13-15 |
8 |
|
16-17 |
8 |
|
18-20 |
54 |
|
21-24 |
54 |
|
25-30 |
50 |
|
31-40 |
69 |
|
41-50 |
33 |
|
51-60 |
15 |
|
61-80 |
1 |
|
Age of Suspect at Date Reported |
Count |
|
13-17 |
7 |
|
18-20 |
20 |
|
21-24 |
30 |
|
25-30 |
48 |
|
31-40 |
70 |
|
41-50 |
30 |
|
51-60 |
22 |
|
61-80 |
3 |
|
81-90 |
2 |
42 of the 293 occurrences were marked as ‘complete stranger’, a further 28 were narked as ‘no known relationship’.