A man was horrified after he discovered his ex posted false information about him on a private Facebook group designed to keep women safe from dangerous men.
The woman, who had a restraining order against her, made the false accusations against her former partner on the ‘Sis Is This Your Man?’ Facebook page.
The group was created to warn women about potentially dangerous men, who caused harm to other women as a solution to the lack of security on dating sites.
The admin of the page known only as Maro Kovo said the page has previously been targeted by people intending to seek revenge against a former partner.
‘We had one guy whose ex was posting him on multiple social media sites. She posted him in our group asking if anyone had any info about him,’ Ms Kovo said.
‘She jumped in the comment section and accused him of a bunch of stuff’.
‘He saw my name and reached out. He showed me he had a domestic violence restraining order out on the lady’.
Ms Kovo said she asked for proof about the allegations if the woman wanted the comment to stay up on the page.
An Aussie man was shocked after his ex made false accusations against him on a Facebook group created to warn women about dangerous and violent men (stock image)
‘We helped him get posts taken down in all different groups. It is not a man hating page like some people think it is.’
Ms Kovo said admins do their best to try and make sure the group, which is used by more than 16,000 women across Australia, is not used for revenge purposes.
‘Every single post must first be screened and checked by the admin team to reduce the likelihood of revenge posts.’
Ms Kovo said several men had reached out to them [group admins] because false information had been posted about them.
The risk of defamation from people posting false information or a person’s reputation being damaged is significant.
The administrators of the page work with lawyers to help them navigate any legal risks to avoid being sued, but there are ‘rogue’ sites that don’t.
‘We have friends who are lawyers who help us if we have questions and try to run the group as legitimately as we can,’ she said.
‘Our team is made up of researchers in psychology, counsellors, family and domestic violence support workers and registered nurses’.
One of the admins of the Facebook group said the page has been targeted by users, who intend to seek revenge against a person from a prior relationships (stock image)
Having worked with victims of family and domestic violence, Ms Kovo knows too well the horrors some women face every day.
Figures by leading domestic violence organisation Our Watch, shows two in five women in Australia have experienced violence since the age of 15.
On average, one woman is killed by a current or former partner every nine days in Australia.
Thousands of social media groups have popped up all over Australia to warn women about potentially dangerous men.
Convicted perpetrators, criminals and paedophiles can join popular dating apps and can connect with women, who have no idea about their prior convictions.
‘This is why these groups exist, so we can help protect one another as much as we can,’ Mr Kovo said.
Ms Kovo spoke about an incident where a man on Tinder was a convicted paedophile and their prospective partner asked if anyone had any information about him.
Another person posted a link to a newspaper article that identified the man and his crimes much to the horror of the woman he was dating, who had children.
‘All these dating sites do not offer women protection, and women are desperate to protect themselves,’ Ms Kovo said.
Thousands of social media groups have popped up all over Australia to warn women about potentially dangerous men (stock image)
Ms Kovo has seen the horrific realities that some women have lived with.
Many women have sent in ‘disturbing material’ of sexual assaults, animal abuse, psychical abuse and psychological abuse.
‘This is how we confirm what to post and what not to post,’ Ms Kovo said.
‘It is not the type of thing to run if you do not have experience, because it can be confronting. Even though I work with it daily, it does affect you.’
