To address persistent concerns about harassment, boundary violation and user safety in digital dating spaces, a research team led by the University of Waterloo has launched an interactive Safety Map to coincide with International Women’s Day.

Hundreds of millions of people use dating apps worldwide, with younger adults aged 18 to 34 being the most active users. In Canada, for example, roughly one in three people report having used a dating app, with 47 per cent of users identifying as women, underscoring how quickly these platforms have become embedded in modern social life.

“The Safety Map is an interactive tool that helps people better understand and navigate safety, risk and support when using dating apps,” said Dr. Diana Parry, a professor in the Faculty of Health and lead researcher on the project.

“Dating apps are now a routine part of everyday leisure and social life, yet many users — particularly women and gender-diverse people — experience harassment, boundary violations and uncertainty about how to respond or where to seek support. Our work addresses that gap by making safety knowledge visible, practical and accessible.”

The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 48 dating app users across Canada. Participants described repeated experiences of unwanted sexual messages, boundary violations and emotional fatigue, which were often normalized as part of the process of online dating. Recognizing these realities, the Safety Map was developed to curate and mobilize safety information to directly benefit individual users.

The Safety Map brings together multiple sources of information, including an analysis of safety policies and features from 30 different dating apps, such as Tinder, Bumble and Grindr. While designed for the general public, the tool may be especially useful for communities that experience disproportionate safety risks in digital dating spaces.

“The Safety Map translates lived experiences into a public-facing resource that helps users anticipate risks, identify supports and make informed decisions,” Parry said. “It shifts safety away from something individuals are expected to figure out on their own to something that can be collectively understood.”

Parry added that this research frames dating apps as digital leisure spaces, not just relationship tools and emphasized that safety is shaped by technology, culture and power.

“We were struck by how normalized unsafe or uncomfortable experiences had become and by the amount of unpaid emotional labour users, particularly women, require to stay safe. Many participants described this as exhausting and unsustainable, which helps explain growing swipe fatigue and disengagement from dating apps.”

The Safety Map was developed as part of a SSHRC-funded research program in collaboration with researchers and graduate students at Waterloo, Concordia University and North Carolina State University, and community partners such as sexual assault support organizations that informed the trauma-informed approach.

More information about the research can be found in a study, A thousand catcalls: Survivors’ experiences of sexual violence in online dating, co-authored by Parry and on the Safety Map website, which is publicly available.