Police are investigating a virtual sexual assault of a girl's avatar, the chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners has said.

Donna Jones said she had learned that a complaint was made in 2023, triggering a police inquiry.

The virtual incident did not result in physical harm but caused "psychological trauma", the Daily Mail has reported a source as saying. Police chiefs have called on platforms to do more to protect their users.

…

The impact of the attack on the girl's avatar was said to be heightened because of the immersive nature of the VR experience.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 38 points 2 years ago (3 children)

[the victim] suffered psychological trauma "similar to that of someone who has been physically raped".

No she didn't. I'm sure it wasn't a pleasant experience, but let's not over exaggerate the situation.

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    I'm not so sure I agree with you. If I had a choice between getting raped IRL or Virtually, I would choose Virtually any day.

    But that doesn't mean you couldn't get PTSD or some other trauma from being virtually assaulted. As far as I know, the brain sees all trauma equality because brains are dumb like that. So I think it is possible the victim is experiencing similar trauma to being raped IRL.

  • source
  • parent