Police are investigating a virtual sexual assault of a young girl’s avatar, causing “psychological trauma”, as reported by the Daily Mail from an unnamed source. The incident happened in a virtual reality game, though it didn’t result in physical harm. The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners has expressed concern over the attack and called on platforms to do more to protect users.
Ian Critchley, from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, wrote that the virtual world has opened a gateway for predators to commit horrific crimes against children. Critchley calls for tech companies to upgrade their platform’s safety measures to protect users from virtual sexual assault.
In previous instances of sexually motivated attacks in the online world, authorities found that physical contact is required to classify it as rape or sexual assault. Hence, legal changes may be necessary to prosecute those liable for virtual world cases. Existing laws against synthetic child abuse may also be used to pursue virtual world cases.
In a 2022 incident, researcher Nina Jane Patel raised concerns about sexually motivated attacks in a virtual world operated by Meta called Horizon Venues, now known as Horizon Worlds. Patel was sexually harassed by male avatars and sexually assaulted virtually. She fears that technology may eventually allow for physical feeling in virtual assaults
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