Consider this my Resignation if this does not stop!

@Jem7Cups that is awful that you have to put up with that. I had someone who kept reporting me because I wouldn't continue the chat when they are master acting but of course it was me in trouble getting warning emails once it was everyday I felt like giving up too. But for the genuine I stayed.

@Jem7Cups @Heather225

I'm very sorry to hear that you're experiencing such issues on 7 Cups, because you're an asset to the site and I've seen you in the LSR helping others and being supportive. Your profile clearly shows that you've put in time, effort, and energy to make the site better. Thank you. It's felt, necessary, and needed -- your contributions DO matter.

I accept sexually explicit chats from members, specifically for therapeutic purposes, which means they can talk about anything sexual as long as it isn't for self-gratification or stimulation. It is only for situations where they are having issues with themselves or a partner. I've placed the rules very clearly in my profile and I'm extremely strict. Given my ruleset, the fact that I'm clear about what I will and will not accept, what constitutes an appropriate conversation -- it has drastically limited down to near zero the amount of trickery and foolishness.

I once had the ability, I believe when I was a GroupMod, to BAN members from the site for such violations. Unfortunately, when I lost the GroupMod badge, I also lost the ability to take swifter action and potentially spare another Listener from having to endure the same treatment I'd just received. Perhaps this needs revisiting, based on certain criteria to have the ability to ban members and also report such activity. The chat window should also have the ability to do a screen capture within it, which is confidentially sent to community@7cups.com so they can review and understand the gravity of the situation versus attacking the Listener for banning and blocking actions -- or leaving it up to the Listener to do the screen capture themselves with cut and paste, then emailing.

IP Blocking is a short term measure and isn't as effective as perhaps it should be. There are too many ways around it and there are also IP spoofing sites (proxy) that allow you to come to 7 Cups from several different IPs. It may also potentially block people who are legitimately using 7 Cups. Therefore, this isn't a fully developed response to the issue.

If anything, I'd suggest a few things aside from what I've stated above.

1. Training - we need to train our Listeners and Members about WHY it's a bad omen to use 7 Cups as a dating site. I've been hearing far too many complaints from members about their dating a Listener from 7 Cups, which is against site policy for various reasons. 7 Cups is not Match.Com, it is not welcome behavior, and no matter how close and personal conversations can become on 7 Cups that don't equal, "Hey, let's date now!" Listeners and Members need to feel safe at all times and it's hard to do when the dating element is a possibility.

2. Swift Action - When situations arise where someone is being inappropriate, a Listener should not have to worry about site reputation penalties (getting into trouble), or how their side of the situation will be believed or not, especially in situations where the Listener is being harassed. This has happened to me in the past, and it took a huge toll on my ability to advance into any leadership roles within 7 Cups as a result -- as you'll note from my profile, I'm no longer in any leadership capacity. Therefore, I would suggest quelling these types of situations -- Listeners are trained to act SWIFTLY, and block or ban after an initial warning. There is no reason to endure or try to sway the conversation back to appropriate after it is very clear they are attempting to move the conversation into a sexually based conversation for gratification. Now, again, for therapeutic discussion and you're not comfortable about that either -- you can offer them to pass to a Listener who is more suitable for that purpose. However, for gratification discussions -- they are warned, then blocked. There should be a zero-tolerance policy, site-wide.

3. We should offer training to our Listeners, because this has been a long standing problem, on how to handle these types of chats and make sure that it is a mandatory course for Listeners to take BEFORE they are permitted to listen to members. This cannot be an optional discussion, a forum post, or a chat room conversation anymore. This must be taken seriously, site-wide, and gain everyone's attention on what is and what isn't expected, along with penalties, and also how to properly handle those discussions effectively and swiftly.

Lastly, if you make the situation nearly impossible (take away the benefits) of any sense of gratification for sexually explicit (inappropriate type) chats -- then you'll find that those types of individuals will lose the desire to continue trying if the amount of effort to spend to attain what they are seeking is simply too much effort or too high for them to reach. They will often give up and go to sites where it's more possible for them to achieve what they want without expending much effort. At present, 7 Cups of Tea provides plentiful access to plenty of people, free, without much effort, and with that comes those that look to take full advantage at the expense of people who have left 7 Cups -- who were stellar performers and who likely gave a lot to the site much like @Jem7Cups does. We simply cannot afford to lose fantastic capital resources that provide us a competitive advantage over other sites that perform similar services. These people should be protected because they each bring uniqueness and effort into what makes 7 Cups of Tea so fantastic.

@Jem7Cups I agree with you completely! I don't take many chats any more because so many of them are sexual. I grit my teeth nervously when I do take on I am tired of listening to people who are sleeping with or day thuy are innaproiate people. Mother's Mo law, daughters, best friends gf etc. . It's just become a scource of stress to yet I want to help. If you figure out a solution let me know. I do end uncomfortable chats but it's still stressful.

@Jem7Cups by the way thank you for all you do and I'm sorry you're fidcoutsgec.