According to “Sexual assault in the metaverse is part of a bigger problem that technology alone won’t solve (Monash University)”, disgraceful accounts of women being sexually assaulted and harassed in Facebook’s virtual reality (VR) metaverse are also racking up.
One vice-president of research for another company claims she was groped by a group of male avatars within 60 seconds of joining. Virtual reality (VR) headsets are helping to blur the lines between the virtual and the physical.
But we don’t need immersive technologies for harassment to feel “real” and to have “real consequences”, authors argue. It’s important to recognise the continuous nature of various forms of abuse, be it online or offline.
