DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS

Bumble partners with the National Domestic Violence Hotline

The Hotline saw a 101% increase in reported digital abuse from 2019 to 2020

Bumble recently announced a multi-year partnership with The National Domestic Violence Hotline (“The Hotline“) in response to the continued prevalence and increase in unhealthy and abusive relationships. The popular app will be supporting the nonprofit’s “love is respect” initiative that engages, educates, and empowers young people to prevent and end abusive relationships. Bumble will make its first multi-year pledge as the presenting sponsor of love is respect.

Over the course of five years, Bumble has changed the narrative around women making the first move in their relationships – yet, across the U.S., one in four women and one in seven men have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

“Bumble envisions a world free of misogyny, where all relationships are healthy, equitable, and empowering,” said Cybil Zhang, Bumble’s Strategy and Social Impact Associate Director. “Bumble is proud to support a crucial nonprofit like The Hotline, which is also based in our shared hometown of Austin, Texas. Through this sponsorship, we hope to demonstrate our continued commitment to creating healthy relationships on our platform and in our communities.”

After lockdown spurred reports of domestic violence rates rising around the world, Bumble donated $100,000 to The Hotline in March 2020 as part of the company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to putting survivors in closer proximity with their abusers, a special COVID-19 report from The Hotline has shown that shelter-in-place orders have increased stress, isolation, and financial strain that further compromised the safety of domestic abuse survivors.

Additionally, The Hotline saw a 101 percent increase in reported digital abuse from 2019 to 2020. Digital abuse is defined as the use of technologies such as texting and social networking to bully, harass, stalk, or intimidate a partner. Often this behavior is a form of verbal or emotional abuse perpetrated online. More information about digital abuse can be found on Bumble’s blog post written in collaboration with love is respect Director Angela Lee.

“The goal of love is respect is to be the national resource to disrupt and prevent unhealthy relationships and intimate partner abuse,” said Angela Lee, love is respect Director. “With Bumble’s generous support, we will be able to create opportunities to empower young people through inclusive and equitable education, support, and resources. Through our partnership, we look forward to shifting the public view of what it means to have a healthy relationship.”

Bumble has previously worked to curb abusive behavior online by developing legislation that makes the unsolicited sending of lewd nude images punishable by law in their home state of Texas. The measure – House Bill 2789 — passed the Texas Senate unanimously in May, and became law on September 1, 2019. Currently, Bumble is also sponsoring the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)’s research on extremism and domestic violence. News of the study will go live later this year and can be found at splcenter.org.

If you or anyone you know is affected by abuse and needs support, please call 1−800−799−7233. If you are not able to speak safely, please visit thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 1-866-331-9474.

To learn more information about domestic violence, visit thehotline.org.

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