Bumble Partners with AWARE Singapore

Bumble has announced a new partnership with Singapore’s leading women’s rights and gender equality advocacy group AWARE. The collaboration means that AWARE will have access to a tip line where they can help reduce bad actors on the app.

One of AWARE’s key areas of focus is working directly with victim-survivors of sexual violence and technology-facilitated abuse. 

The new partnership will allow the group to have direct communication with Bumble’s Member Safety team, allowing them to report harmful or dangerous individuals. If these individuals then try to use the Bumble app, they could face a warning or even have their profiles removed. 

The infographic below explains how the process works:

Bumble has set up a specific tip line to coordinate with NGOs and charities who work with victim-survivors. The reporting pathway is powered by Kodex, which is also used separately for Bumble to communicate with law enforcement agencies. 

This communication between charities and Bumble will reduce the burden placed on victim-survivors to report harms, while still ensuring that dangerous individuals are kept off the platform. Bumble users can still report inappropriate behaviour through the in-app mechanism.

“Bumble is an app built by women, for everyone. Safety has been central to our mission from day one, and our core values of kindness, respect and inclusivity are at the centre of all the work we do. We are proud to be able to work with AWARE in an effort to further restrict harmful individuals from being able to access our platform in Singapore”, said Lucille McCart, APAC Communications Director at Bumble.

“At Bumble we believe victim-survivors and we understand the burden that can be placed on survivors to report experiences of harm to us. This is just one way that we are taking a sensitive and trauma-informed approach to safety”.

“We are proud to work with organisations like AWARE who share the same vision of protecting women, and as part of our global mission to fight misogyny and advance gender equality, we will continue to advocate for the elimination of gender-based violence and strive to create a safer world for women. We welcome more to join us to pave the way for a safer and more positive online dating experience”, McCart shared.

Sugidha Nithiananthan, Director, Advocacy, Research and Communications at AWARE, said, “As more people engage in online dating, there is greater access to a larger pool of potential dates. Therefore, it is critical that groups collaborate to develop positive safeguards for the community to prevent various forms of harm that might arise from using the internet for dating”.

“AWARE shares Bumble’s commitment to establishing a secure dating environment that not only eliminates potential threats to women’s safety but also actively prevents harassment and image-based sexual abuse. Through the provision of such features and resources, we hope to continue to empower women in Singapore to have greater agency over their dating journeys”, Nithiananthan added.