11

Meeting Online and Then Transitioning to Real Life

As discussed in the online dating section, some people are not honest about who they are when they are online. For this reason, when you decide to first meet someone who you met online it is very important to make sure that you have a plan to meet them in a safe way. This means meeting in a neutral and public place, so not your home or their home or a place where you will be alone with them.

An example of a plan to stay safe when meeting someone in real life for the first time is to:

Meet in a public place.

Tell at least one other person where you are going and who you are going to meet. If possible ask them to meet up with you afterwards or to be at the same venue at the same time so that they can be there in case you need some support to leave.

Do not drink from a drink that someone else gives you that you did not see being served.

If you go to the toilet do not drink from your drink when you get back if you left it behind. Both of these points around drinks are due to the growing usage of the ‘date rape’ drug Rohypnol, which is colourless and odourless and is added to someone’s drink so that they will become very drowsy and even pass out after drinking the drink. The drugger will often then sexually assault or rape the person that they have drugged. Both men and women can be victims of this kind of attack.

Do not give the person you meet any money, although you can pay for any food or drink or activities that you do if you want to.

It is better to meet the person a few times before you share more personal information like your phone number or address with them.