A woman claimed that she was “gang raped” in the Metaverse and that it seemed like real life.
Nina Jane Patel, vice president of research at a metaverse rival company, claims she was “verbally and sexually harassed” and even “virtually gang raped” by a group of males within 60 seconds of logging into “Horizon Venues” a Meta-owned VR reality.
Horizon Worlds allows you to interact with friends and strangers in a virtual environment where you have a digital avatar version of your body that moves in sync with you.
Though it lets you interact with people, play games, and immerse yourself in the experience, as Patel’s story demonstrates, it also has a dark side.
She said: “3-4 male avatars, with male voices, essentially, but virtually gang-raped my avatar and took photos—as I tried to get away they yelled—’don’t pretend you didn’t love it’ and ‘go rub yourself off to the photo’.”
She further stated that she was “not accustomed to being spoken to in such derogatory ways, maybe back in 1996, but certainly not in 2021.”
Horizon Worlds provides a “Safe Zone” feature that allows users to activate a safe bubble in which no one can interact with, touch, or talk to them.
Unfortunately, Patel stated that she froze and that everything “happened so fast and before I could even think about putting the safety barrier in place.”
Virtual harassment of women occurs frequently in many online forums, but because the Metaverse is in VR takes it to another level, and having a virtual body in the metaverse may make things appear more realistic.
Patel said: “Virtual reality has essentially been designed so the mind and body can’t differentiate virtual/digital experiences from real.
“In some capacity, my physiological and psychological response was as though it happened in reality.”
Another Horizon Worlds beta tester reported in December that her avatar was groped by a stranger.
She said: “Sexual harassment is no joke on the regular internet, but being in VR adds another layer that makes the event more intense.
“Not only was I groped last night, but there were other people there who supported this behavior which made me feel isolated in the Plaza.”
