Virtual Sexual Assault, the Start of Something Dark
An investigation has been taking place by the British police due to a case of virtual sexual assault in the virtual reality world, the metaverse.
We thought that with the creation of the VR world, we would be able to experience great things and thank technology for it, but what we didn’t know is that the trash of our real world would follow us there.
Meta, a leader in virtual reality describes its metaverse as “the next evolution in social connection and the successor to the mobile internet”, a setting where “virtual reality lets you explore new worlds and shared experiences”. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for the young British girl that was sexually assaulted by a gang in the metaverse.
The girl is 16 years old who was innocently using her virtual reality headset to play an immerse game in the metaverse. To everyone’s shock the girls avatar was attacked and sexually assaulted by other avatars. Due to the traumatizing event that took place the British police have began their investigation.
Many have asked if it is really classified as sexually assaulted since it took place in the metaverse. Many Instagram users had different opinions regarding the case “Couldn’t she have just turned it off?” “Can we focus on real-life crime please?” “I was killed in [the war video game Call of Duty],” one person said sarcastically: “Been waiting for my killer to be brought to justice.”
The difference in this case is that Call of Duty players are expected to die at some point during the game and they do not experience it virtually. The girl was playing a game on the metaverse and did not expect to be sexually assaulted, her only crime is that she wanted to enjoy her free time.
The issue with Meta is that it has had a bad record with protecting children and teenager’s rights on its platforms. A senior police officer explained to the Daily Mail that “there is an emotional and psychological impact on the victim that is longer-term than any physical injuries.”
It seems like history is repeating itself in one form or another. In the past parents would instruct their girls to wear something appropriate to play in the playground with their friends. Requesting to wear something ‘appropriate’ was a form of protection towards the girl in order not to get touched or sexually assaulted by strangers. After this incident what would parents have to say to their children that are at home and playing a game in the metaverse in order to protect them from sexual assault?
Sexual assault is sexual assault even if it’s done virtually no one has the right to commit such a crime and no matter what the person should be should held accountable for his or her actions.
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