Raped in the metaverse

[rickyrickygrimes]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/05/metaverse-sexual-assault-vr-game-online-safety-meta

does anyone on here go into the Metaverse? What is it? How does it work?

And how can someone be raped in a virtual world? I’m not disputing at all that it was a traumatic experience for the girl this happened to. Is there actually an offence of ‘virtual rape’?

I agree it’s not rape. But your comment about how she could have avoided it by ‘taking the fucking headset off’ isn’t right either, it’s victim blaming at worst. It’s easy for us as adults to point out the obvious ‘just go offline’, but plenty of people, especially kids don’t have the right level of critical thinking and problem solving, which is why they need to be protected from inappropriate and vile sexual behaviour from strangers on the internet. It’s no different to people saying ‘just go offline’ to online bullying or anything either, sometimes it’s just not that easy for an individual to disconnect.

And you’ve just completely made that up because no one’s said anything like that at all. The police are investigating it because it’s been reported. Literally nothings going to come of it. Given the fact that almost all actual rapists get let off, what do you think they’ll do about a case where a girls complaining that her game character was being virtually abused but she didn’t want to turn her game off 🙄

Well said @TeaKitten

A 15 year old girl receiving sexualised emails or texts can “just turn her phone off” but that takes away an important channel for her and makes the victim’s life smaller whilst the perpetrators carry on being shit heads.

Discussing how using VR as a female character can get sexual harassment within seconds of logging in where male characters don't.

I'm told by my (adult) DC that's potentially true of any kind of poorly moderated gaming environment. And it took longer than seconds but it was also true back in the 1980s when all people had to roleplay with online was text.

VR just ups the ante.

You really are vile, I hope you aren’t raising children. Sexual behaviour towards a child on the internet is illegal, and not the child’s fault for not turning it off. Adults are responsible for protecting children, this girl has been failed somewhere here, it’s not her fault.

It is more straightforward to investigate where there is online evidence than in cases of real life assault without witnesses, for obvious reasons.

The police are doing the right thing establishing where this lies under current law and whether new laws are required.

Did you read the article?

People can be killed in games where that is the purpose of the game. So they play with that in mind?

This is an underage girl who was ganged up on by a group of adult men who made sexual comments and gestures at her online.

I think the distinction here is that when you play games like Call of Duty you expect this. However, I'm struggling to visualise how an avatar can be raped as presumably they haven't programmed animations where the avatars perform sexual acts.

I used to love playing online shooters and have been 'teabagged' many times after being killed (basically an insult whereby somebody repeatedly squats over your character's face as they lay dead on their back).

Strictly speaking, I've suffered hundreds of virtual sexual assaults as getting teabagged was not something I ever expected when first playing these games. I always found it hilarious though tbh. I'd normally try and kill that player and teabag them back.

I was an early content creator in Second Life. Very much an experienced adult, not an impressionable child, and I was doing it to learn how the code works so had an inbuilt level of detachment.

Nonetheless, my brain identified with my avatar so thoroughly that I occasionally walked into doors (in real life) because my brain assumed I could fly through them 😳 I gave it up after going for a walk in the woods, when I realised I was seeing my surroundings as interlocking shape layers (like game content). It took a big effort to re-engage with the landscape as a normal human.

The game was teeming with creepy players who, predictably, reacted angrily to being told nicely or aggressively to fuck off.

This experience feeds into my conviction that video games are not harmless but, here, I'm just trying to answer your question. The girl's virtual 'rape' could have been utterly shocking to her and I believe she may have felt it as a real event - without the physical impact, but I'm not sure her psyche would've known the difference.

The assault may be virtual, but I'm questioning what sort of adult person thinks it acceptable to virtually surround a young girl and act out a virtual assault. The intention and gratification is still there.
To me, perhaps it's the same principle as someone who commits a physical assault versus someone who views sinister video content online.

I'm pretty sure your 'psyche' would know the difference between being gang raped in real life and having a few avatars pelvic thrusting at you online.

I wouldn't necessarily expect your husband to figure this out for himself, but you could try asking him how he would feel if you joined one of his games and a group of men ganged up to virtually rape your game character.

@TheZoehan a PP has stated that actions such as hip thrusting are doable

Maybe I’m overly cynical, but I kind of assume that any environment that attracts adolescent / adult males, and allows them to operate anonymously and without boundaries is going to be exploited sexually. whether that’s social media or VR or whatever, VR just seems to be one step closer to a ‘real life’ experience of creepy behaviour.

I would, sure. Would an impressionable child?

It's not rape, and yes she could have exited the game, but what a fucking dreadful way for grown men to behave. Fuckers.

That about sums it up really, and no it's not overly cynical because variations of it have been reported over and over again with each new technology.

And the responses to it don't seem to change much either - nobody has to play games online, it's not real so it doesn't really do any harm, women are making a big fuss over nothing.

@TheZoehan, despite my long, adult life experience and the fact that I was coding game content, my brain still expected my real body to fly through real doors and forgot that real trees aren't layers of interpolated code. Perhaps you missed my point?

(Before you ask, yes I have been raped in RL.)

She's been virtually assaulted and traumatised.

It's a different type of crime. A new type of crime.

Let's not dismiss this, victim blame or parent blame.

YY, @AmaryllisNightAndDay.

I'm pretty sure your 'psyche' would know the difference between being gang raped in real life and having a few avatars pelvic thrusting at you online.

Does it have to feel as bad as being gang raped in order to be traumatic or disturbing?

Does it have to be as evil an act as real life gang rape for us as a society to decide we don't want people doing it and feel so strongly about that we want to bring laws in to prevent it?

Why is it we never take these new forms of harassment, made possible by technology, seriously at the start?

Abuse online was largely dismissed for many years, ditto dick pics and resharing nude/sensitive digital photos and video. Most of it still isn't treated seriously enough. This is similar.

Who cares what we call it, it's disgusting behaviour. Vile treatment for the "crime" of being, or presenting as, a woman. Why should a woman have to pretend she's not one or refuses to take part 🤷‍♂️

The protective bubble option is nonsense, the only person it really protects is the abuser actually. Because otherwise they'd have to do something meaningful to prevent and/or punish the offender

I would assume the "rape" was messages and actions of avatars, which means the words aren't censored and code has been written to enable this. That is where this starts, the big Bro culture in these companies. Legally I would hope it constitutes harassment and sending harassing messages of lewd non-consensual content. I'm sure if everything written on their avatars communication was downloaded it would read like a threatening letter with malicious sexual intent.

One way these companies could sort this is to make every character female.
Bet they won't though!

Are you really asking whether a child would recognise the difference between being physically raped vs having an avatar hip thrust at them?

For starters, part of the psychological trauma of being raped is no doubt contributed to by the physical effects/pain.