In the week where the National Crime Agency have announced that Online Dating crimes have more than doubled between 2013 and 2015 and with the Jason Lawrence rape case trial ongoing at Derby Crown Court, where it is alleged that 5 victims he met on Match.com were raped and 2 others sexually assaulted, we analysed the crime statistics that the NCA made available and it is sad to see that using the larger and nationally or even internationally known brands such as Match.com, Plenty of Fish or Badoo, offers no additional protection at all.
Between 2013 and 2015, according to the National Crime Agency, 828 cases of crimes involving online dating were reported, this included 88 cases of rape, 49 sex attacks, 180 violent crimes, 115 cases of harassment and 43 of blackmail, most of which came from the best known branded sites such as Plenty of Fish which led the way in terms of numbers, with 63 cases reported in total, including 8 rapes and 5 sex attacks. Badoo was in second place and was in involved 17 cases, including 2 rapes, with Sugardaddy.com, Fitlads.net, Outoftownaffairs and Flirtfinder all being involved in rape cases too.
Surely there has to be a better way of way of meeting people than this and we asked Julie Lazarus of Searchmate to comment on the current situation and the NCA’s statistics. Said Julie “I find those statistics awful, they are far, far worse than I expected and I really feel saddened for the victims, who’s only mistake has been to try to find happiness by trying to meet a partner. It does however really vindicate the more cautious approach we take at Searchmate, where all members are interviewed, ID checked and vetted before we would ever accept them as a member, making Searchmate one of safest ways to meet new partners across the UK.”
If you would like to receive advice on dating safely and the services offered by Searchmate, then you can get in touch with Julie Lazarus on 0800 644 4160 or by completing the contact form within the site. The consultation is always free and completely without obligation.
Older Age Groups,Intimacy for older age groups
Intimacy for older age groups is still on the agenda, according to research recently presented by the Think Tank at the International Longevity Centre, who recently carried out a major study of the sex lives of pensioners, using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing – if you’re able to find the right partner. The survey revealed that more than a quarter of men over the age of 85 had experienced sex in the past year however, compared with just 10 per cent of women in the same period.
Unfortunately, despite the majority of older people engaging in sexual activity, the subject remains a taboo one that is hardly ever highlighted or discussed in the press, on TV or the media generally. Cesira Urzì Brancati, a research fellow at the International Longevity Centre, said: ‘Romantic relationships are a fundamental part of people’s life – not just at a young age, but throughout the life-course. Cesira continues: ‘And yet sexuality among older people is under studied at best, and neglected at worst.’
The saddest fact of all is the tiny percentage of people aged over 50, who go on to experience intimate relationships, if they become widowed or divorced after the age of 50.The report, ‘Finding Love in Later Life’, also examined whether people of 50 and over are likely to remarry after experiencing divorce and widowhood. It found that nearly two thirds of divorcees and three quarters of widowers aged over 50 are women, leaving heterosexual women with far fewer men to choose from, which creates a real problem in terms of finding, trustworthy, caring, companions within the right age group. Indeed, only a tiny proportion of unmarried older people (approximately 1 in 20) begins a new relationship after divorce or widowhood, researchers found.
We asked Julie Lazarus, the Senior Membership Adviser at Searchmate, how she felt about these startling statistics, says Julie “Quite frankly I am appalled at how few people are being successful in finding partners in later life, it has really saddened me. This is what we do at Searchmate – we find quality, carefully vetted, trustworthy, partners for others, who can go on to become lifelong partners, companions and lovers”
Julie continues “I just wish that we could spread the word more effectively as the over 50’s market is one of our strongest, but that seems to be one of the best kept secrets in dating. If you’re over 50 and are in widowhood or are divorced, get in touch, we can and will help at Searchmate”.
If you would like to know more and wish to speak to Julie, then please ring us between 9am and 9pm Monday to Friday or 10am until 6pm on Saturday’s, Sundays and Bank Holidays on 0800 644 4160 or complete our contact form within our website”
Why you should use a trusted matchmaking service
Many people come to a crossroads in their dating lives at some point. A time will come when you become so frustrated with your dating life, and the perceived lack of options out there that you make the call to try something you thought you may never do. At this point many people often turn to online dating but there are some well known pitfalls to online dating. Online dating is something that you should avoid because there is a better option.
Instead, the better option is to use a trusted matchmaking service. However, you shouldn’t be using just any matchmaking service because otherwise you’ll end up experiencing the kind of difficulties many people experience with online dating. When looking for a matchmaking service you need to make sure that they are reliable and can be trusted. There are a number of things you should be looking for to ensure you find a matchmaking service that fits this description.
One of the things that should be of primary concern to anyone who is looking for a personal matchmaking service is whether or not it is good value for money. Overall, this is what you should be looking for when looking for any matchmaking service. How can you be sure something is good value for money? The easiest way is to look at what’s being offered and with Searchmate Introductions, there is a lot being offered that demonstrates great value for money.
You can trust our matchmaking service because of the secure process we put all of our members through. All of our members must be personally interviewed and have their personal information vetted for. This ensures that you are only going to be matched up with genuine people who are serious about meeting someone for an exclusive, long-term relationship. This is the kind of trust we are talking about when you use our matchmaking service.
A matchmaking service you can trust will make sure there are processes like this in place for every member. If not you will find that there will be many pitfalls associated with the matchmaking service, much like with online dating.
Overall, trust is the most important thing with any matchmaking service and we are a matchmaking service that ensures a secure and discrete service for all of our members. We go to great lengths to ensure our members have this peace of mind and confidence in our service.
If you’re ready to take this important step in your life and want some more information on our memberships, don’t hesitate to contact us today on 0800 644 4160 we’ll be happy to guide you through our services.
We look forward to talking with you…
Sophie x
Public Dissatisfaction With Online Dating Sites Is Growing
For a long time now we have been told that online dating sites are the perfect alternative to traditional dating. With the advent of the internet came online dating sites and they were often seen as the best way for any singles struggling with traditional dating to meet new people.
People loved to jump on an online dating site feeling hopeful and enthusiastic about their chances of finding love. This is what got everybody excited and it gave many singles a renewed sense of hope.
Generally, people of all ages tend to use online dating sites. However, it tends to be younger people that gravitate towards online dating more than middle aged or mature people.
It is also appealed to people of a particular lifestyle; by that we mean people who live a busy life, are very focused on their careers, so therefore they struggle to make the time for dating.
Once upon a time it was a win-win situation for all concerned. The singles of the world had an exciting new way to meet other singles and the dating companies were able to provide great business.
Things have slowly started to take a turn for the worse though.
How Online Dating Is Not All It Seems To Be
It seems hard to believe that public dissatisfaction with online dating sites is growing when you consider how popular it once was.
Consider this fact. Cupid Plc (which is made up of Cupid.com, Flirt.Com, UniformDating.com, Girlsdateforfree, Maturedating, FriendsoverFifty, FriendsreunitedDating and LoveBeginsAt.com) has recently announced £3m in pre-tax losses, plus the loss of more than half of their paying clients (down from 113,000 to 48,000 over the year). Consider what this means for the company and the current landscape of online dating, because this news is huge.
This fact alone demonstrates that the trend to use paying online dating sites is declining.
Now what has spurred this current change? That is what we need to look at. Cupid is a paying service online but they have recorded some significant losses in revenue.
It is easy to say that perhaps it is the economy or various other factors, and to simply discount these findings but perhaps there is more to it than that.
If we dig a little deeper we’ll see that there is more to this growing public dissatisfaction than what it seems.
Let’s look at it this way, what we do know is that whilst paying online dating sites are struggling to attract new users, the free based online sites are having no difficulty at all.
Then we have the free smartphone apps like Grindr and Tinder. These smartphone apps offer a certain level of convenience that the paying online dating sites simply cannot offer.
Not to mention they have an ease of use that cannot be matched by online dating sites.
There is also a growing trend towards casual sex for many users of smartphone apps and the free online dating sites and this is important to consider. So whilst the free online dating sites and smartphone apps are attracting more users than paid online dating sites, it’s important to note this growing trend for casual sex.
Online Dating Simply Doesn’t Meet The Demand Of Singles Who Want A Real Relationship
Ultimately, what this all means is that online dating is not exactly the best way to meet a real partner for a committed relationship.
Whilst these new smartphone apps and free dating sites are meeting the demand for casual sex, they aren’t meeting the demand for singles that want a real relationship.
Singles who want a real relationship need more than this and the reality is that online dating sites, free or paid, and smartphone apps are not going to help singles find a real partner.
Let’s look at it this way.
It is a fact that many dating sites contain fake profiles and there have been cases of identity fraud, monetary fraud, and many other problems. Not to mention the fact that you can’t always be sure that someone you meet online is always looking for the same thing you are – basically whether or not they are genuine with their intentions.
People who are serious about finding love have certain demands that are not always met by any online dating site, whether it’s paid or free, or any smartphone app.
Think about it this way.
If you are serious about finding love do you want to be wasting your time with people who aren’t serious? Do you want to be interacting with people who don’t want what you want? Do you want your private details to be public information?
Of course not! And that is where a lot of this public dissatisfaction regarding online dating has stemmed from. The online dating sites and smartphone apps simply aren’t meeting the demand of singles that want a relationship. We know that there have been some very public cases of fraud that have occurred from people who have met using online dating sites.
Whilst it’s easy to say that this is just an unfortunate mishap, it would almost be untrue to look at it this way
There is a deeper problem that results in these kinds of unfortunate incidents.
The problem with many of these online dating sites is that there is no requirement to vet a members’ personal information, verified their ID, and basically making sure they are who they say they are.
This is the kind of process that would filter out people who aren’t serious about finding love but online dating sites want to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. And this is where the problem can stem from.
Without a rigorous vetting process you will always get cases of fraud, people claiming to be someone they’re not, and time wasters in general.
Traditional Dating Is Still The Best Way To Meet Singles Looking For Love
Overall, what this all means is that the traditional model of dating is far from over. Many people may have thought that with the beginning of the internet and dating sites that traditional dating would lose its appeal. The opposite has happened though because with all the dissatisfaction people are feeling towards paying online dating sites, there is a renewed sense of hope for traditional dating.
More than ever people are now realising that the future of paying online dating sites is grim.
If you want a safe and sure way of dating then online dating seems like it would be one of the worst options to choose, and this is reflected by the growing public dissatisfaction of online dating sites.
At the end of the day you can’t beat real world dating where you can meet people in the real world. This is the most genuine and authentic way to meet your next partner.
Are you looking for a safe and discrete way to meet your life partner? Searchmate Introductions Agency could be the perfect service for you.
Dating can be a tough game at times. There are many things that contribute to people having a difficult time with dating. Many times it is due to circumstances. You may have just recently come out of a long term relationship and are finding it difficult to get back into the dating swing of things. A common problem many men have is that they struggle to find the time to dedicate to this area of their life.
Life is so much more special when it can be shared with someone you care about. That is what our personal introductions service is all about. Our aim is to help men find that special person that they can have a lasting and meaningful relationship with. You may be wondering how this is different to your typical online dating, which is a reasonable question to ask but we are removed from the typical online dating process.
With your typical online dating you create a profile that is then available for public viewing. Often, there are many negative situations that occur as a result of online dating such as fraud, or even people not being who they portray themselves to be. This occurs because of the very lax safety and security procedures with online dating.
We go that one step further and make sure that your safety and security is assured. We do that by vetting all of our members who all must be interviewed by our experienced staff before they can be accepted into our programs. This means a number of things for you. You know that you will be introduced to someone who is who they say they are and it is also much more discrete compared to online dating. None of your information will ever be made public.
Our personal vetting process ensures that we only get members who are genuinely serious about finding their dream partner and with our service you have a much greater chance of finding someone special than what you would with online dating sites.
Want more information? Why not call us on 0800 644 4160 and speak to one of our professional matchmakers today?
Sophie x
