Man abducts 18-year-old Tinder date from the streets to make a point about online dating

September 15, 2015, Admin, EVB Analysis,

A YouTube 'prankster' has abducted an 18 year old girl he met on the dating app Tinder to make a point about online dating. The Metro coverage of this incident suggests its "on the extreme side".

This ''prankster' has stalked the daughter of a friend online and then he and another male dressed in balaclavas grabbed her off the streets. It's difficult to tell from The Metro article if the girls' parents were aware of this in advance, although the girl is given a phone with her mother on the line after being dragged into the van.

This isn't just "on the extreme side". It's grossly inappropriate, terrifying and cruel. It's certainly not going to give anyone the skills to negotiate their safety when surrounded by violent men on social media.

Frankly, we doubt this YouTube 'prankster' actually cares about women's safety. If he did, he certainly wouldn't have engaged in kidnapping. He would know that, statistically, this 18 year old female would have already experienced street harassment and other low level forms of sexual assault. It's entirely possible she has experienced rape. Had he actually cared about women's safety, he wouldn't have done something that could leave this young woman traumatised.

There is also a level of control and ownership involved in this type of shaming. The young woman was targeted for using a dating app. The response by this 'prankster' (and possibly her parents) is to control her actions - engage with social media and we will punish you. The young woman is only an object used to get views of the video - she isn't a person in her own right. Her safety and mental health are inconsequential to a man making a point.

This was all about click-bait: a man making himself famous by terrifying women. Where have we seen this before?

The following tweets were sent by a supporter. We've included them as they cover everything which is wrong with this "teaching social media safety by terrorising women and children" approach.