Meeting Up

I read this article the other day about a woman in Wisconsin who answered an ad on craigslist. 

She moved to NYC and was expecting to trade cooking and cleaning for a place to stay.
Over the course of 9 days she was allegedly raped, beaten, and held against her will.

 

Although we hear about incidents like these which are reported I suspect there are more encounters of sexual or physical violence like this that don’t get reported.


I won’t list them all but there are numerous reports over the last couple of years of individuals being targeted on social networking and personals sites.  Just do a quick search and it will bring up quite a few.
Everyone not just us lgbt folks should be careful when we meet up with someone we have chatted with online.  There are just so many things that can and do go wrong. 


There are some really simple things that you can do if you are going to meet up with someone you met online to ensure your safety:
1.   Meet in Public.
2.  Don’t invite someone to your home unless you have met them in person
3.  Never give out personal information such as name, address, birthdate to a complete stranger.
4.  If you are going to meet up for sex then at least make sure you tell someone where you are going.  Text, email, or phone a friend with where you are going.


Even leave a note at your house with the details.   That way if you go missing for three days someone will know where to start looking for you.
The internet can be a great place to meet people but it is one where you should do it with some caution.  If something doesn’t feel right from the beginning it probably isn’t.