FOI 452226
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 452226
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 15th January 2026. Please find below the response to your request:
Please consider this narrowed version of my FOI request instead. I believe that with the keywords, this should now keep you under the 18-hour threshold. However, if this is still not feasible, please contact me and I will let you know which question can be scrapped. Please provide your response in a PDF format. Thanks in advance!
1) How many sexual offences or harassment offences resulting from meeting a stranger via a dating app/website were reported to your force in the past three years? Please provide one figure for reports of harassment and one for reports of sexual offences for each of the following years: 2023, 2024 and 2025.
To find these reports, please look for all those which contain at least one phrase from the following list:
Tinder, Bumble, Feeld, Grindr, Plenty of Fish, Match.com, eharmony, EliteSingles, Elite Singles, Happn, Kippo, OkCupid, OK Cupid, Facebook Dating, SilverSingles, silver singles, Parship, Original Dating, Muddy Matches, Badoo, Veggly, Christian Connection, Muzz, Muzmatch, Muzzmatch, Musmatch, and JDate.
Please also look for reports that contain the phrase ‘Hinge’, ‘HER’, ‘Inner Circle’, ‘Salt’, ‘Our Time’, or ‘Muzz’ AND one of the following words: ‘Date’, ‘dating’, ‘app’, ‘met’, ‘match’, ‘matchmaker’, ‘matchmaking’.
Please only include the reports in which a sexual offence or harassment offence has been reported and you can confirm that the victim and accused met on a dating app or website.
Please also include a breakdown of how many reported offences resulted from each app or website.
3) How many of the victims in these reports were biological women? How many were biological men?
4) What were the ages of these victims? Please split them into the following brackets: Under 16, 16 to 18, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+.
5) Please provide me with a figure for how many of these reports resulted in charges AND, if possible, a list of the accused who went to court. From there I will get in touch with HM Courts to find out how many were convicted.
Reply
West Mercia Police hold the information requested
1) How many sexual offences or harassment offences resulting from meeting a stranger via a dating app/website were reported to your force in the past three years? Please provide one figure for reports of harassment and one for reports of sexual offences for each of the following years: 2023, 2024 and 2025.
To find these reports, please look for all those which contain at least one phrase from the following list:
Tinder, Bumble, Feeld, Grindr, Plenty of Fish, Match.com, eharmony, EliteSingles, Elite Singles, Happn, Kippo, OkCupid, OK Cupid, Facebook Dating, SilverSingles, silver singles, Parship, Original Dating, Muddy Matches, Badoo, Veggly, Christian Connection, Muzz, Muzmatch, Muzzmatch, Musmatch, and JDate.
Please also look for reports that contain the phrase ‘Hinge’, ‘HER’, ‘Inner Circle’, ‘Salt’, ‘Our Time’, or ‘Muzz’ AND one of the following words: ‘Date’, ‘dating’, ‘app’, ‘met’, ‘match’, ‘matchmaker’, ‘matchmaking’.
Please only include the reports in which a sexual offence or harassment offence has been reported and you can confirm that the victim and accused met on a dating app or website.
Please also include a breakdown of how many reported offences resulted from each app or website.
|
Primary Offence Group
|
Calender Year
|
Grand Total
|
||
|
2023
|
2024
|
2025
|
||
|
SEXUAL OFFENCES
|
7
|
11
|
17
|
35
|
|
VIOLENCE AGAINST THE PERSON
|
3
|
7
|
8
|
18
|
|
Grand Total
|
10
|
18
|
25
|
53
|
|
Primary Offence Group & Name of Dating App
|
Calender Year
|
Grand Total
|
||
|
2023
|
2024
|
2025
|
||
|
SEXUAL OFFENCES
|
7
|
11
|
17
|
35
|
|
Badoo
|
2
|
2
|
||
|
Bumble
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
5
|
|
Facebook
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Grindr
|
3
|
1
|
3
|
7
|
|
Muzzmatch
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Plenty of Fish
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
|
|
Tinder
|
1
|
4
|
7
|
12
|
|
Hinge
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
|
|
VIOLENCE AGAINST THE PERSON
|
3
|
7
|
8
|
18
|
|
Badoo
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Bumble
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
|
|
Grindr
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Match
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Muzzmatch
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Tinder
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
7
|
|
Hinge
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Dating Ap
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Hinge
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Grand Total
|
10
|
18
|
25
|
53
|
3) How many of the victims in these reports were biological women? How many were biological men?
|
Primary Offence Group & Gender of Victim
|
Calender Year
|
Grand Total
|
||
|
2023
|
2024
|
2025
|
||
|
SEXUAL OFFENCES
|
7
|
11
|
17
|
35
|
|
Female
|
4
|
6
|
14
|
24
|
|
Male
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
6
|
|
Unspecified
|
2
|
2
|
||
|
No linked victim
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
|
|
VIOLENCE AGAINST THE PERSON
|
3
|
7
|
8
|
18
|
|
Female
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
12
|
|
Male
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
6
|
|
Grand Total
|
10
|
18
|
25
|
53
|
The victim gender is as recorded on the system, there is not a separate field specifically stating biological gender
4) What were the ages of these victims? Please split them into the following brackets: Under 16, 16 to 18, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+.
|
Primary Offence Group & Age Range of Victim
|
Calender Year
|
Grand Total
|
||
|
2023
|
2024
|
2025
|
||
|
SEXUAL OFFENCES
|
7
|
11
|
17
|
35
|
|
16 to 18
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
|
|
19 to 24
|
3
|
4
|
4
|
11
|
|
25 to 34
|
3
|
1
|
7
|
11
|
|
35 to 44
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
|
|
45 to 54
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
55 to 64
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
No linked victim
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
|
|
VIOLENCE AGAINST THE PERSON
|
3
|
7
|
8
|
18
|
|
19 to 24
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
5
|
|
25 to 34
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
7
|
|
35 to 44
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
|
45 to 54
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
|
Grand Total
|
10
|
18
|
25
|
53
|
5) Please provide me with a figure for how many of these reports resulted in charges AND, if possible, a list of the accused who went to court. From there I will get in touch with HM Courts to find out how many were convicted.
|
Primary Offence Group & Outcome Of investigation
|
Calender Year
|
Grand Total
|
||
|
2023
|
2024
|
2025
|
||
|
SEXUAL OFFENCES
|
7
|
11
|
17
|
35
|
|
Ongoing Investigation
|
3
|
6
|
9
|
|
|
Type 1 - Charged/Summonsed/Postal Requisition
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
|
|
Type 14 - Evidential Difficulties Victim Based- Suspect Not Identified: Crime Confirmed But The Victim Either Declines Or Unable To Support Further Police Investigation To Identify The Offender
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
|
|
Type 15 - Named Suspect Identified: Victim Supports Police Action But Evidential Difficulties Prevent Further Action
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
|
|
Type 16 - Named Suspect Identified: Evidential Difficulties Prevent Further Action: Victim Does Not Support (Or Has Withdrawn Support From) Police Action
|
3
|
5
|
4
|
12
|
|
Type 18 - Investigation Complete; No Suspect Identified. Crime Investigated As Far As Reasonably Possible-Case Closed Pending Further Investigative Opportunities Becoming Available
|
2
|
2
|
||
|
VIOLENCE AGAINST THE PERSON
|
3
|
7
|
8
|
18
|
|
Type 3 - Caution Adult
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Type 14 - Evidential Difficulties Victim Based- Suspect Not Identified: Crime Confirmed But The Victim Either Declines Or Unable To Support Further Police Investigation To Identify The Offender
|
1
|
1
|
||
|
Type 15 - Named Suspect Identified: Victim Supports Police Action But Evidential Difficulties Prevent Further Action
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
|
Type 16 - Named Suspect Identified: Evidential Difficulties Prevent Further Action: Victim Does Not Support (Or Has Withdrawn Support From) Police Action
|
5
|
2
|
7
|
|
|
Type 18 - Investigation Complete; No Suspect Identified. Crime Investigated As Far As Reasonably Possible-Case Closed Pending Further Investigative Opportunities Becoming Available
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
6
|
|
Grand Total
|
10
|
18
|
25
|
53
|
Names will not be provided under this FOI and are exempt under
The following exemption is applicable to the information requested:
- S.40(2) – Personal information
S.40(2) is an absolute, class-based exemption and therefore there is no requirement to evidence harm or conduct a public interest test.
This exemption is engaged where disclosure of information relates to personal data of a third party or could lead to the identification of an individual, either from that information alone or combined with other information from within the Police Service or public domain. In this case, the information you are requesting is personal data of a third party.
Such a disclosure would breach an individual’s rights under the Data Protection Act 2018, in particular Article 5(1) of the UK GDPR which states that personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject. Such a disclosure would also be likely to breach s.8 Human Rights Act 1998 which states that everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
In accordance with s.17(1) of the Act, this acts as a Refusal Notice to this part of the request.