SINGAPORE — A private Facebook group in Singapore where women anonymously rate men whom they dated has sparked controversy for its potential to be harmful and unethical.

The seemingly innocuous group named SG Women Ask screens group members before allowing them to join the group. New members must be invited by current members to join.

Group members may then post dating profiles and names of prospective dates for other members to comment on them by asking for “tea” or information.

Members of the group described a range of negative experiences with the men they had dated, including “red flags” such as questionable behaviour or gaslighting, which is a form of manipulation and psychological abuse where the victim is made to doubt his or her sense of reality. 

Some members even posted serious accusations of sexual assault, harassment and abuse, AsiaOne website reported.

A member was quoted in an interview with AsiaOne as saying: “SG Women Ask is an open forum for women to call out douchebags.”

ETHICAL CONCERNS 

Despite the intent of the group to “protect, empower and uplift women” as highlighted in the group’s description on Facebook, some people have raised various ethical concerns.

A thread on online forum Reddit that drew attention to the group was posted on Wednesday (Dec 13) and received 324 comments within a day.