A man was shocked to discover that his ex had posted false information about him in a closed Facebook group designed to protect women from dangerous men.
The woman, who had been given a restraining order, made the false accusations against her ex-partner on the Facebook page ‘Sis Is This Your Man?’.
The group was founded to warn women about potentially dangerous men who harm other women as a solution to the insecurity on dating sites.
The page’s administrator, identified only as Maro Kovo, said the page had previously been targeted by people seeking revenge on a former partner.
“We had a man whose ex posted him on multiple social media sites. She posted him in our group and asked if anyone had any information on him,” Ms. Kovo said.
“She jumped into the comments and accused him of a bunch of things.”
“He saw my name and reached out and showed me he had a domestic violence restraining order against the lady.”
Ms Kovo said she had asked for proof of the allegations if the woman wanted the comment to remain on the page.
An Australian man was left shocked after his ex made false allegations against him in a Facebook group set up to warn women about dangerous and violent men (stock image)
“We helped him delete posts in all the different groups. It’s not a man-hating page like some people think.”
Ms Kovo said administrators are doing their best to ensure that the group, which used by over 16,000 women across Australia, is not used for revenge purposes.
‘Every message must first be screened and reviewed by the admin team to reduce the chance of retaliatory messages.’
Ms Kovo said several men had contacted them [group admins] because false information had been posted about them.
The risk of defamation by people who post incorrect information, or of damage to reputation, is significant.
The administrators of the page often work with lawyers to help them deal with legal risks to avoid being sued, but there are ‘rogue’ sites that do not.
“We have lawyer friends who help us when we have questions and who try to run the group as legitimately as possible,” she said.
‘Our team consists of researchers in psychology, counselors, family and domestic violence professionals and registered nurses’.
One of the Facebook group’s administrators said the page is being targeted by users seeking revenge on a person from a previous relationship (stock image)
Ms Kovo has worked with victims of domestic violence and therefore knows all too well the horrors some women go through on a daily basis.
Figures from Our Watch, a leading organisation fighting domestic violence, show that two in five women in Australia have experienced violence since the age of 15.
In Australia, on average, a woman is murdered every nine days by her current or former partner.
Thousands of social media groups have sprung up across Australia to warn women about potentially dangerous men.
Convicted offenders, criminals and pedophiles can sign up for popular dating apps and connect with women who are unaware of their previous convictions.
“That’s why these groups exist, so we can protect each other as much as possible,” Mr Kovo said.
Ms Kovo recounted an incident where a man on Tinder was a convicted paedophile and asked his prospective partner if anyone had any information about him.
Another person posted a link to a newspaper article identifying the man and his crimes, much to the shock of the woman he was in a relationship with and who had children.
“All these dating sites offer no protection to women, while women desperately want to protect themselves,” said Ms Kovo.
Thousands of social media groups have sprung up across Australia to warn women about potentially dangerous men (stock image)
Mrs Kovo has seen the horrific reality that some women live with.
Many women have submitted ‘disturbing material’ about sexual abuse, animal abuse, psychological abuse and emotional abuse.
“That’s how we decide what we post and what we don’t,” Ms. Kovo said.
“It’s not the type of thing to run if you’re not experienced, because it can be confronting. Even though I work with it every day, it does affect you.”