Mother’s sex ordeal at hands of virtual reality gang within seconds of entering metaverse
A MOTHER has described how a gang sexually assaulted her less than a minute after she entered Facebook’s virtual online world.
Nina Jane Patel watched and listened in horror through a virtualreality headset as her avatar – a moving, talking, computer-generated version of herself – was groped aggressively in a sustained attack by three realistic male characters.
Her braying assailants struck in full view of others who had logged into Facebook’s version of the ‘metaverse’ – an online world in which users’ avatars meet and interact and explore a fast-growing network of virtual locations such as cities, country scenes or cafes.
Looking forward to experiencing this immersive, animated world on her computer, the 43-year-old from London, had logged into the Horizon Venues metaverse and created her avatar.
On a visit this month, the motherof-four
‘They were touching my upper and lower body’
entered the ‘lobby’ – a virtual space serving as an entry point. But within seconds she was pursued by the men’s avatars, who groped her, subjected her to a stream of sexual innuendo and took screenshots of the attack for several minutes as she tried to flee.
She had to tear off her headset – which covers her eyes and allows her to see the metaverse as her avatar sees it – to end the ordeal.
While she could not actually feel the avatars’ hands, Mrs Patel has suffered from anxiety since the attack, and fears for her three teenage daughters and other women in this lawless virtual world.
She said: ‘I entered the Horizon Venues metaverse as an avatar who looked just like me – middle-aged, blonde and dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved top.
‘The space you enter is a lobby, like a theatre foyer. Within 60 seconds, three male avatars – who all had male voices – came towards me and touched me inappropriately.
‘Before I knew what was happening, they were taking screenshots of them touching my avatar, both my upper and lower body. While doing that, they said things like, “Don’t pretend you don’t love it”.
‘I tried to move away but they followed me. I didn’t know who these people were or had the time to stay and investigate.’
Mrs Patel’s experience will heighten fears that the metaverse, which experts predict could be worth over €700bn a year by 2024, will become a haunt for sex attackers and paedophiles.
A senior lawyer said the attack was not an offence but suggested governments may have to consider
how to protect those entering the metaverse. Nick Brett, of UK law firm Brett Wilson, said: ‘Where a woman has been sexually assaulted virtually, that itself possibly ought to be illegal but isn’t at present.’
He said sexual offences legislation might need to be amended to prosecute people who hide behind
avatars, adding, ‘There is no reason why not’.
The attack wasn’t the first time Mrs Patel had seen the darker side of the metaverse. Referring to one of her first visits to Horizon Venues in December, she said, ‘There was what sounded like a young girl, maybe about 10, being accosted by
what sounded and looked like a male. The male avatar was forcing his face on to hers and she was yelling, “Stop it. Get off me”. Other avatars just stood by’.
Venues has introduced a ‘safe zone’ – a bubble that avatars enter to avoid interaction with others – but Mrs Patel says the website’s protection is
still woefully inadequate.
‘Friends and colleagues have experienced racism, sexism and other forms of assault in the metaverse,’ she said. ‘I’ve heard many women say their avatars have been sexually and verbally abused.’
Users of Venues must be aged at least 18, but critics say it is easy for
youngsters to lie about their age.
Mrs Patel said: ‘I am a mother of three daughters and a son and I have many concerns about letting them go into this seemingly fun, inviting area only to encounter dangerous and damaging behaviour.’
She is now creating Kabuni, her own educational metaverse for children
aged eight to 16, with stricter parental controls. ‘This technology will be prevalent in our children’s futures, so my mission is to create safe and secure virtual-reality experiences,’ she said.
A spokesman for Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said: ‘We’re sorry to hear this happened. Horizon Venues
should be safe and we are committed to building it that way.
‘We will continue to make improvements as we learn more about how people interact in these spaces, especially helping people report things easily and reliably.’
However, Mrs Patel is not the only user to have been abused, if reviews on the Venues website are anything to go by. Darren627025 said: ‘Within minutes I was getting abuse.’
DamicodNov said: ‘Horrible experience. It is overwhelming to be harassed as soon as you enter.’
Ladybug137 said: ‘Was sexually harassed within 30 seconds!’