LGBTQ+ men in Gothenburg are being urged to take extra precautions when meeting people through dating apps, after two people in the Gothenburg area were reportedly assaulted and robbed in the past month after arranging dates online.
RFSL Göteborg, the local branch of Sweden’s main LGBTQ+ rights organisation, has issued a warning to men who date men, saying that recent incidents show the need for greater caution when moving from online contact to an in-person meeting. The police in Sweden’s western region have also backed the warning, advising people to arrange first meetings in public places for their own safety.
Two reported assaults after meetings arranged online
According to Sveriges Radio’s P3 Nyheter, two separate people in the Gothenburg area were assaulted and robbed in the past month after agreeing to meet someone they had contacted through a dating app.
RFSL Göteborg chair Marion Englaborn said the situation should not be normalised, but that the organisation felt a public warning was necessary.
“This must not happen, but now it is happening, and it is happening in our city. So it is better to be careful one time too many than one time too few,” Englaborn told P3 Nyheter.
The organisation has urged men who date men to be cautious when meeting someone they have only spoken to online. The advice includes choosing a public place, telling someone where the meeting will take place, and ending the meeting if something feels unsafe.
RFSL links dating app attacks to possible hate crimes
In a separate opinion piece published by QX, RFSL Göteborg described a broader pattern in which gay and bisexual men in Gothenburg have been contacted through dating apps and then targeted for robbery, assault and humiliation.
The organisation said such cases should not be treated only as ordinary robberies or assaults if victims are selected because they are, or are perceived to be, gay or bisexual. In those circumstances, RFSL argued, the cases should also be investigated as possible hate crimes.
The group stressed that responsibility must not be placed on the victims. Safety advice, it said, can reduce risks, but the duty to prevent and investigate violence lies with the police, public authorities, dating platforms and political decision-makers.
Police advise first meetings in public places
Police in western Sweden have agreed that there is significant hostility towards the LGBTQ+ community and have joined RFSL in recommending that people arrange first meetings in public places.
The warning reflects a wider concern in Sweden about LGBTQ+ people’s safety, both offline and in digital spaces. Dating apps can offer privacy and connection, especially for people who may not be open about their sexual orientation or gender identity. At the same time, that privacy can be exploited by offenders who use online contact to isolate victims.
The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brottsförebyggande rådet, Brå) has previously found that, in reports where an LGBTQ+-related hate crime motive could be identified, assault, unlawful threats and harassment were among the most common types of suspected offences. The agency has also noted that crimes in public places and cases where the suspect was not known to the victim were more common among male suspects.
A safety warning with a wider Nordic relevance
The Gothenburg cases underline a broader challenge for Nordic societies, where high levels of digitalisation coexist with persistent risks for minority groups. For LGBTQ+ people, dating platforms can be an important part of social life, but they also require safeguards from companies, police and public authorities.
RFSL Göteborg’s message is therefore not only about individual caution. It is also a call for better prevention, stronger investigations and clearer recognition of anti-LGBTQ+ violence when it appears in new digital forms.
The next step will depend on whether the recent cases are investigated as isolated crimes or as part of a wider pattern targeting men who date men. For now, the warning from RFSL and the police is clear: first meetings should take place where other people are present, and potential hate crime motives should not be overlooked.
