Intimate intrusions online: Studying the normalisation of abuse in dating apps

Intimate intrusions in mobile dating contexts are a pressing social issue given the high uptake of dating apps and frequent anecdotal reports of abuse. Despite emerging popular and scholarly interest in gendered violence and online abuse, little is known to date about women's everyday lived experiences of intimate intrusions facilitated through dating apps. In this review, I draw on three bodies of literature to demonstrate how sexual harassment, dating violence, and dating app research can help us better understand women's experiences on Tinder and similar apps. I then adapt the continuum of sexual violence as a framework to interrogate patterns of normalised abuse in this context. I argue that the theory of a continuum of sexual violence can help researchers to contextualise intimate intrusions on dating apps and consider their implications. It is important to pay attention to the normalisation of abuse in mobile dating contexts, particularly as a factor that may reinforce a culture that supports violence against women.