Where Sexual Violence Begins: How technology, trust, and online connections are reshaping sexual violence prevention.
From the DARCC Education Department
When most people think about sexual violence prevention, they picture physical spaces. A college campus. A party. A bar. A workplace. Prevention efforts have historically focused on these environments because they are tangible places where people gather and where violence can occur. Yet many of the most important interactions in our lives no longer begin in physical spaces. They begin online.
Dating apps, social networking platforms, and location-based technologies have fundamentally changed how people meet, form relationships, and build community. For many LGBTQ+ individuals, these platforms provide opportunities to connect with others in ways that may not be available through family, school, work, or local social networks. Technology has expanded access to relationships and community. At the same time, it has created new opportunities for offenders to identify, target, and exploit vulnerable individuals.
This reality challenges how we often think about prevention. Too often, prevention conversations focus on where an assault occurred rather than how it began. By the time two people meet in person, there may have already been days, weeks, or even months of communication, trust-building, manipulation, or grooming taking place online. If prevention efforts only focus on what happens in physical spaces, we risk overlooking the environments where some perpetrators first establish access to potential victims.
Research is beginning to shed light on this shift. A review of more than 3,500 forensic sexual assault examinations found that assaults involving dating apps were associated with higher rates of violence, including strangulation, multiple penetrative acts, and genital injuries. Researchers also found that perpetrators in app-facilitated assaults were more likely to engage in behaviors that suggested planning, such as using condoms, lubricants, and post-assault washing practices (Valentine et al., 2022). While technology itself does not cause sexual violence, these findings suggest that some offenders are adapting their methods to take advantage of digital platforms.
These conversations are particularly important when discussing LGBTQ+ communities. National data consistently show that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals experience sexual violence at disproportionately high rates. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, rates of contact sexual violence, rape, sexual coercion, and sexual harassment are often significantly higher among LGBTQ+ populations than their heterosexual peers.
Understanding these disparities requires looking beyond individual behavior and examining broader social conditions. Research has documented higher rates of adverse childhood experiences, family rejection, anxiety, depression, and substance use among LGBTQ+ populations. Studies have also found that experiences of stigma, discrimination, and social isolation can create barriers to support while increasing reliance on online spaces for connection and community. These realities do not cause sexual violence. However, they can create circumstances that offenders recognize and exploit.
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges is that public conversations about sexual violence often lag behind changes in technology. We have become more comfortable discussing consent, healthy relationships, and bystander intervention, yet many prevention efforts still focus primarily on in-person interactions. Meanwhile, offenders continue to adapt. They learn how to use apps, social media, and digital communication to gain trust, identify vulnerabilities, and create opportunities for harm. Prevention must evolve just as quickly.
This does not mean technology should be viewed as inherently dangerous. Millions of people use dating applications and online platforms safely every day. Rather, it means that prevention efforts must recognize the role technology now plays in modern relationships and acknowledge that digital spaces are not separate from real life. They are part of it. The conversations, relationships, and decisions that begin online often carry over into offline interactions, for better or for worse.
As technology continues to shape how people connect, prevention efforts must expand beyond traditional settings and consider the full context in which relationships develop. The future of sexual violence prevention is not just about understanding what happens at a party, in a dorm room, or at a bar. It is also about understanding what happens on a screen before two people ever meet.
To learn more about this topic, join DARCC's July Lunch & Learn, Boofed & Bruised: Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault in Queer Communities, presented by Patrick Brady, Ph.D on July 29th via zoom. This session will explore current research on drug-facilitated sexual assault, vulnerabilities experienced within LGBTQ+ communities, the role of technology in offender behavior, and the importance of trauma-informed responses.
Click here to register.
Sources:
Valentine, J. L., et al. (2022). Research on app-facilitated sexual assault and forensic examination outcomes.
National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Brady, P. Q. (2026). Boofed & Bruised: Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault in Queer Communities (Conference presentation, Conference on Crimes Against Women).