The incident in a virtual world reportedly left the under-16-year-old traumatised.

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.

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

  • Flying Squid
    4•6 months ago

    I’m not talking about this case in particular. I’m talking about the need to establish a legal framework before it becomes such a problem that everyone wonders why there isn’t a law against it.

    • CornpopEnglish
      -3•6 months ago

      We have managed fine this far. Nothing new. Police can stay out of video games.

      • Flying Squid
        2•6 months ago

        Yes, we managed this far at he immersiveness and realism level of games so far. Eventually, and this is really the goal for a lot of people, games will be so realistic and immersive that you’ll feel like you’re actually there. And that is a big problem when it comes to sexual harassment. So maybe we should make sure that we’re prepared.

          • Flying Squid
            2•6 months ago

            I’m not sure why that means you can’t use it to effectively sexually harass someone. Women get sexually harassed on games now.

            • CornpopEnglish
              1•6 months ago

              Not trying to be a smart ass but what do you consider sexual harassment in a game?

              • Flying Squid
                4•6 months ago

                Repeatedly sending unsolicited rude sexual messages would be one possibility. Which is something female gamers constantly have to deal with right now and sometimes the harassers suffer no consequences and keep doing it, possibly to many women. That sort of thing can have a major psychological effect on someone. But even if it doesn’t, women should not have to and not be expected to put up with that shit when they’re trying to have the same kind of fun men have.

                • CornpopEnglish
                  1•6 months ago

                  Can’t that be solved by just blocking annoying people? I do that all the time and it works perfect.

                  • Flying Squid
                    1•6 months ago

                    If the game allows for it. It’s under no legal obligation to do so.