16-year-old UK girl virtually 'gang-raped' in metaverse game, probe underway

Police in the UK are investigating the first case of an alleged rape in a virtual reality game after a 16-year-old girl was "sexually attacked" in the online "metaverse". The girl is said to have been left distraught after her avatar--her digital character-- was gang-raped by online strangers, The New York Post reported.

The 16-year-old girl was using a Virtual Reality (VR) headset in an immersive game when her avatar was allegedly assaulted by avatars representing several men, the Daily Mail reported. The case is believed to be the first virtual sexual offence investigated by the police.

According to British officials, law enforcement is taking the victim's emotional and psychological damage seriously, even if there was no physical harm done to them, as reported in the Daily Mail.

James Cleverly, the UK's Home Secretary, has expressed support for the probe, highlighting the girl's psychological distress and cautioning against underestimating the gravity of such virtual crimes. “I know it is easy to dismiss this as being not real, but the whole point of these virtual environments is they are incredibly immersive,” he told LBC’s “Nick Ferrari at Breakfast” program.

"Additionally, the teenager we are discussing here has experienced sexual trauma. It has a really important psychological impact, and we shouldn't write this off lightly," he continued.

In a similar case, in 2022, a 43-year-old British woman alleged that she was verbally and sexually harassed on Meta's metaverse, Horizon Venues. She said that three or four male avatars "virtually gang-raped" her avatar and took pictures of it within 60 seconds of her entering the virtual realm.

• UK girl
• VR headset
• Virtual Reality
• metaverse
• gangrape
• rape
• murder
• crime