“The crime might be virtual, but the impact is very real”: Sexual violence in the metaverse

In the first case of its type in the UK, the police are currently investigating a rape that took place in the metaverse. The victim, a girl under the age of 16, was reportedly sexually assaulted by a gang of adult men while she was playing an immersive game.

Although she did not suffer any physical injuries, the violation of her avatar is said to have left her with the same psychological and emotional trauma as someone raped.

The safety of the metaverse, a term loosely given to immersive virtual reality environments in which users exist and interact as avatars, has been brought into question before. Psychotherapist and VR theorist, Nina Jane Patel, was sexually harassed in Meta’s Horizon Venues (now Horizon Worlds) in 2022. She describes freezing as the attackers “virtually gang-raped” her avatar.

With current legislation defining rape and sexual assault as a physical offence, there is no legal protection for victims of parallel crimes in the virtual space. Ofcom, the UK’s online safety regulator, is not due to produce guidance on VAWG until next year.

Amidst this legislative lack, the probe into events on the metaverse has attracted widespread attention–most of which has been critical.

Particularly complicated is the question of why the police are investigating virtual rape when there are insufficient resources for rape cases in the UK. 

The legal system is increasingly failing rape survivors; the prosecution rate for rapes is 3.2% (2021-22) and the backlog of adult rape cases in England and Wales doubled between 2019 and 2023. To allocate resources to a case in which the level of harm is contentious is, then perhaps, negligent. 

Yet, as James Cleverly reminded Nick Ferrari on LBC, “we’re talking about a child here, and a child has gone through sexual trauma”. While the victim's age should not be the linchpin of our sympathy, Cleverly’s centering of trauma is important.

With the metaverse designed for immersive experiences which rival those of real life, the possibility for, and validity of, trauma cannot be dismissed. The crime might be virtual, but the impact is very real.   

Cleverly further warned that the perpetrator “may well be someone that could go on to do terrible things in the physical realm”, rounding off a surprisingly tactful take given he had made light of those “terrible things” just the week before. The National Police Chiefs' Council's Child Protection and Abuse Investigation Lead, Ian Critchley, reiterated the Home Secretary’s point; “the metaverse creates a gateway for predators to commit horrific crimes against children”.

To address the harm of these VR assaults, two actions are required. One, tech companies need to integrate safety mechanisms into the metaverse. Indeed Meta has implemented a ‘Safe Zone’, a protective bubble that can be activated by a user if they feel unsafe, in response to allegations of sexual assault in the past. This measure, however, is inadequate. It does not cover for a victim freezing up, and places the burden of prevention on the victim. 

Two, legislators need to develop a framework for crimes occurring virtually. These measures should be, in part, aimed at tech companies; until they develop sound ways of combatting acts of sexual violence on their platforms, they need to be held accountable for them. 

In terms of legislating for the individuals involved, the lack of research into the ethics of metaverse crimes could provide a pilot zone for victims-based models of restorative justice; that is, facilitated discussions between willing victims and perpetrators about the impact of the incident. New crimes offer the grounds to trial new, anti-carceral practices.

Whether or not you believe that a rape can take place in the metaverse, or that a victim’s trauma is comparable to that experienced after an assault in real-life, it is certain that this behaviour on the metaverse is rape culture mediated on a different platform.

With the dark side of the metaverse increasingly brought to light, it emerges as an environment in which rape culture–-and perhaps what might be deemed as rape-–could be addressed with a different imagining of justice.