The metaverse is billed as a fully realized digital world that exists beyond the one in which we live. But, like the real world, it has a sexual harassment problem already.
Imagine being in a room socializing with family when a stranger approaches
and gropes you for sexual gratification.
Now imagine that in the virtual world.
That is what happened to gamer Jordan Belamire in 2016 as she played on
Quivr, a multiplayer VR game in which she was shooting down zombies
alongside her husband and brother-in-law.
In a penned open letter published on the Medium online platform, Belamire
said when she played the game, she was at first blown away by the
experience, saying: “Never had I experienced virtual reality that felt so
real.”
But the reality of the game made an unwanted encounter in the VR game more
frightening when she was interacting with another player called BigBro442.
Suddenly … his floating hand approached my body, and he started to
virtually rub my chest. ‘Stop!’ I cried. … This goaded him on, and even
when I turned away from him, he chased me around, making grabbing and
pinching motions near my chest. Emboldened, he even shoved his hand toward
my virtual crotch and began rubbing.
“Sexual harassment is no joke on the regular internet, but being in VR adds
another layer that makes the event more intense.”
Belamire’s experience was brought to the forefront earlier this year amid a
growing hype around the metaverse when Microsoft cited the metaverse as a
reason for acquiring the game developer Activision Blizzard for $68.7
billion and Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, renamed his social
networking company Meta.
In January, Meta even opened up access to its virtual-reality social media
platform, Horizon Worlds, where up to 20 avatars can get together at a time
to explore the virtual space.
But what seemed a fun, playful experience was tinged when a beta tester
reported that she too had been groped by a stranger.
Vivek Sharma, the vice president of Horizon, called the incident
“absolutely unfortunate,” saying it highlighted a need for the blocking
feature Safe Zone” – part of a suite of safety features built into Horizon
Worlds in which a protective bubble users can activate when feeling
threatened – to be more easily accessible.
More recently, a 43-year-old mother in the UK has alleged that she was
“virtually gang-raped” in Facebook’s metaverse, just seconds after she
stepped into the new virtual world.
“Within 60 seconds of joining, I was verbally and sexually harassed by
three to four male avatars, with male voices, who essentially, but
virtually, gang-raped my avatar and took photos,” Nina Jane Patel wrote in
a December Medium post. “As I tried to get away, they yelled, ‘Don’t
pretend you didn’t love it’ and ‘Go rub yourself off to the photo.’”
“It was surreal. It was a nightmare.”
It led to Meta rolling out a minimum distance between users’ avatars in its
virtual reality Horizon. The “personal boundary” function in the immersive
platform, where people can socialize virtually, puts a ring of space around
users’ digital proxies.” A personal boundary prevents anyone from invading
your avatar’s personal space,” Horizon vice president Vivek Sharma wrote.
“If someone tries to enter your personal boundary, the system will halt
their forward movement as they reach the boundary,” Sharma added. But the
incidents have highlighted the grey area of sexual assault and harassment
in the virtual world, with experts warning that the metaverse – described
as a gigantic multiplayer platform built in virtual reality where people
can socially interact with each other – can also be a space where sexual
abuse runs rampant.
Maida Kajevic, a clinical psychologist at Dubai’s German Neuroscience
Center, told The Media Line that sexual harassment in the metaverse “poses
a major threat due to unlimited possibilities of communication, concealment
of identity, gender, age, and looks, as well as real intentions of
establishing relationships and communication.”
“Violence via virtual worlds, social networks, and others is a growing
problem that we need to recognize and respond to it,” she warned.
Kajevic said what concerns her about the metaverse is that sexual abuse and
violence become a “constant threat” in VR.
“It is important to remember that in the online world the same rules of
conduct apply as in the offline world,” she said. “Unacceptable behavior is
always unacceptable. It is wrong to conceptualize violence against women
and girls online as a separate phenomenon in relation to violence in the
‘real world’; it is more correct to look at them as a unit.”
Kajevic said, when it comes to virtual violence, there are several main
characteristics that distinguish it from traditional, offline forms of
violence.
Firstly, anonymity, given that “anyone can present themselves as they wish”
(fake names, nicknames, years).
Virtual violence also has ubiquity, given that online violence can happen
anywhere, such as at school, in the workplace, and in the home, at any time
– and has a wide audience. This means information is spread quickly and
easily, which gives the perpetrator a greater sense of control and power,
says Kajevic.
Sneha John, a clinical psychologist at Dubai’s Medcare Camali Mental Health
Clinic, said as a metaverse – a network of 3D virtual worlds – where the
emphasis is on social connection, it is unrealistic to expect a world in
which real-life issues such as sexual abuse do not exist.
“Harassment, assaults, and bullying run excessively in virtual reality
games, which are part of the metaverse,” she said. “There are few
mechanisms to easily report the misbehavior. “Inappropriate behavior in the
metaverse can be more severe than today’s online harassment and bullying.
Virtual reality plunges people into an all-encompassing digital environment
where unwanted touches in the digital world can be made to feel real and
the sensory experience is heightened.”
John said any acts of sexual abuse – physical or online – can have lasting
effects on a survivor.
“Online sexual harassment can make a person feel threatened, exploited,
coerced, humiliated, upset, sexualized, or discriminated against.
“There are many emotional and psychological reactions that victims can
experience. One of the most common of these is depression. Another
consequence would be flashbacks.
“During a flashback, it can be difficult to connect with reality. It may
even feel like the perpetrator is physically present.”
Victims may also experience deliberate self-harm and a detachment from
reality “which may make it difficult for an individual to function in the
real world,” said John.
The psychologist said it is likely that many people spend more time
blending offline and virtual interactions, moving towards a mixed reality.
That increased usage makes it hard to monitor rising risks.
One person who knows all too well the impact of virtual sexual abuse is
former Dubai-based model Merhan Keller.
The Egyptian made international headlines for sharing lewd comments that
were sent to her by star footballer Amr Warda during the Africa Cup of
Nations – for which Warda publicly apologized.
Keller, whose full name is Merhan Hisham Abdel Qader, was subject to a
vicious social media hate campaign and a deluge of threats of sexual
violence after sharing her experience. They included comments from
television presenter Tamer Amin who was later jailed for insults deemed
slanderous, insulting, and of a sexual nature for the derogatory comments
he made on his show Akher Al Nahar on the entertainment channel Al Nahar.
She told The Media Line that virtual violence can leave a lasting
psychological impact as real as physical sexual abuse.
“I think the virtual violence is pretty much as damaging as harder [than
physical sexual violence],” she said. “It is harder to prove because this
person can just disappear.
“This person can deactivate their account and sadly the authorities
everywhere do not take it seriously.
“Often, they are convinced somehow that there is another authority who
should be responsible for the internet or whatever happens in the virtual
world. They feel it is someone else’s responsibility, so as a victim when
you go report it, you don’t really know where to go.”
In Egypt, where Keller – now a campaigner for women’s rights – grew up, she
says there are now agencies where you can report acts of virtual violence.
However, she feels like such cases are not treated with adequate severity.
“They don’t take you seriously,” she said. “Because, to them, if no one
touched you then you should be good. But the problem is someone like me had
their whole world shattered and my family was left destroyed.
“You try and explain that to people but you get mocked because, again, you
were not physically touched by that person.
“So, it is harder to prove, it is harder for you to reach a resolution.”
She said women worldwide get sexually abused at home, in the street, and in
the workplace – so why not the virtual world?
Companies, therefore, have to be held accountable to make sure it is a safe
space for women.
“There has to be a direct line to these companies [for victims]. They need
to be accountable. It is their responsibility as a service provider that
exists in that virtual space. It is their job to make it a safe space.”
Dr. Hassan Elhais, a legal consultant at the Dubai-based law firm & Legal Consultants, said it is unrealistic to believe that
concerns of sexual assault and harassment in virtual worlds will go away
any time soon.
“They will continue to happen as long as people are willing to hide behind
computers in order to avoid moral responsibility,” he cautioned.
Despite the virtual – and playful – context it occurred in, an act of
online sexual abuse in the virtual world should still be considered sexual
harassment, said Dr. Elhais.
“Even though there is no physical contact, sexual harassment of an avatar
in a virtual world may be considered sexual assault. Because the virtual
avatar hanging out is an extension of the user, this may be considered
another type of sexual harassment.
“Essentially and technically, the avatar is the user in a virtual reality
setting, in whatever animation or avatar they’ve chosen. In virtual
reality, if someone tries to harass you or touch you improperly, it is
being directed at you.
“It’s also illegal to perpetrate sexual harassment using any other type of
electronic communication or information technology.
“The perpetrator of an act of sexual harassment in the virtual world could
be someone who knows the user or is a complete stranger just as in real
life. Even if virtual reality doesn’t have legalese for such an act, an
instance like this could be considered sexual harassment.”
He said UAE laws aim to protect victims of sexual assault. For example, the
Federal Decree-Law No. 31/2021, the Issuance of the Crimes and Penalties
Law, states under Article 41 that any person who commits a sexual
harassment crime shall be liable to a jail sentence for a period not less
than one year or a fine not less than 10,000 dirhams or both of these two
penalties.
However, Dr. Elhais said companies that provide virtual reality platforms
should become more robust about how they will keep track of offenders and
what actions they would take to ban users who pose a danger to others.
“Regulators are needed to govern virtual worlds,” he said. “We must be
prepared to cope with the potential security flaws that VR environments may
introduce.”
Until then, it is up to users to keep themselves safe – and away from
sexual predators.
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