UK Teen Virtually 'Gang-Raped' In Metaverse, Police Probe Underway

The UK police are investigating what is believed to be the first case of an alleged rape in a virtual reality game. The incident involved a 16-year-old girl who was reportedly "sexually attacked" in the online "metaverse", as per The New York Post.

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What happened?

The girl was said to be distraught after her digital character, or avatar was allegedly gang-raped by strangers in the virtual environment. The investigation raises concerns about the potential impact of real-world crimes and violence within virtual spaces.

The alleged incident involved the teenager wearing a virtual reality headset in an immersive game where a group of men reportedly assaulted her. While no physical injuries were reported, investigating officers noted that the victim experienced emotional and psychological trauma similar to someone who has been assaulted in the physical world.

The case is believed to be the first virtual sexual offence investigated by the police.

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'Child experienced psychological trauma'

"This child experienced psychological trauma similar to that of someone who has been physically raped. There is an emotional and psychological impact on the victim that is longer term than any physical injuries," a senior officer told The New York Post.

"It poses a number of challenges for law enforcement given current legislation is not set up for this," the officer added. However, it remains unclear what game the teenage girl was playing at the time of the alleged offence.

The investigation into the virtual reality rape case has raised questions about the prioritisation of virtual offences, particularly when police and prosecutors are dealing with a significant backlog of rape cases in real life.

UK Home Secretary James Cleverly has defended the probe, emphasising that the child involved has undergone "sexual trauma," highlighting the potential impact of such incidents on individuals' mental and emotional well-being.

"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," Cleverly told news outlet LBC.

"It's also worth realising that somebody who is willing to put a child through a trauma like that digitally may well be someone that could go on to do terrible things in the physical realm."

Meta's reaction

There have been several reports of virtual sex crimes in Horizon Worlds ¡ª a free VR game operated by Facebook's parent company, Meta.

"The kind of behaviour described has no place on our platform, which is why for all users, we have an automatic protection called personal boundary, which keeps people you don't know a few feet away from you," a spokesperson for Meta said.

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