Gamers who carry out virtual rapes in the 'metaverse' should be charged as real-life sex
attackers, a legal expert insists.
Assaults are rife on the digital 'avatars' used by women and children in the
online world, which, it is claimed, can leave them with trauma
similar to real ordeals.
Players wearing virtual reality headsets often use interactive gloves and
bodysuits to experience physical touch in the 3D
games, meaning they will feel an assault on their avatar.
Professor Clare McGlynn, a law expert at Durham University, branded the metaverse a
'ticking time bomb' and warned that the number of sex attacks is set to 'explode' in the next few years.
Her paper, published in the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies,
found that a rising toll of 'meta-rapes' are going unpunished in the unregulated digital spaces.
It cites a police investigation after a teenager was 'gang-raped',
with officers concluding that she suffered the same psychological trauma as a real-life victim.
The case last year, revealed by the Mail, was thought to
have been the first time in the UK that police had investigated
a virtual sex offence.
Gamers who carry out virtual rapes in the ' metaverse ' should
be charged as real-life sex attackers, a legal expert insists. Pictured:
File photo of woman playing in Metaverse
Assaults are rife on the digital 'avatars' used by women and
children in the online world, which, it is claimed,
can leave them with trauma similar to real ordeals (Stock
Image)
Players wearing virtual reality headsets often use interactive gloves
and bodysuits to experience physical touch in the 3D games, meaning they will feel an assault on their
avatar. Pictured: A woman using a headset to play in the metaverse
Read More
EXCLUSIVE
I was 'gang raped' in the metaverse -the trauma was
similar to a real-world assault
Professor McGlynn's study, with Carlotta Rigotti of Leiden University in the Netherlands, proposes that existing laws should be applied
to 'appropriate cases of meta-rape'.
She said the law covers touching with any part of the body,
'with anything else and through anything', adding that it
could be interpreted to include touching through an avatar.
'The metaverse is growing rapidly and we see abuse, sexual
violence and hate speech,' she added.
'Very young children access these spaces with ease and, as engagement explodes, so
will the risks.
'Due to the tactile technology... you can have physical sensations.
If somebody touches your avatar, you feel it. Victims report the same level of trauma as if the rape had occurred
in real life.'
In 2022, The Mail on Sunday told how a mother-of-four's avatar was sexually
assaulted in Facebook's virtual world.
Nina Jane Patel, 43, from south London, watched
in horror as the computer-generated version of herself was groped by three male characters in full
view of others in the Horizon Venues metaverse.
Misogynistic extremists known as Incels - groups of men online who claim they are ‘involuntary
celibate' and blame women for this - are set to weaponise the metaverse for 'virtual rape',
Professor McGlynn also warned.
She said: ‘This is going to become a major forum for extremists who
are likely to adopt this technology far faster than the average user because of their intent to abuse
and harass.
‘It's an unregulated space, which means extremism will flourish.
Right now, no one is paying close enough attention.'
Gamers must be aged at least 18 but critics say it
is easy for youngsters to lie about their age.
Horizon Venues has since introduced a 'safe zone' that avatars can enter to avoid interaction.
A spokesman for Meta, Facebook's parent company, said it was 'committed' to safety and that
it 'will continue to make improvements as we learn more about how people interact'.
Police chiefs have called for updated laws to keep pace with the online world.
National Crime Agency boss Graeme Biggar said police must prepare for online incidents to be treated as crimes due to their real-life impact.
Mittwoch, 07. Mai 2025 07:15
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