After a minor girl was sexually assaulted in Britain, the company opened an investigation into the incident. But it's not that easy.
.webp "Rape in virtual reality")
British police have opened an investigation into an alleged rape case in a VR game, after a teenage girl was "sexually assaulted" by a group of strangers in the online VR "Metaverse". The victim wearing a headset was unharmed in her body, as there was no physical assault.
The authorities did not release details of the case in order to protect the teenage girl, as there were concerns that pursuing legal proceedings on online abuse might not be possible.
While the case lever did not suffer any bodily injuries, police sources say it may have suffered trauma similar to that of the true rape victim. A high-ranking officer told the British Daily Mail: "There is a longer-term emotional and psychological impact on the victim than any bodily injury."
However, the British authorities fear that it would be impossible to bring this case before the courts under existing laws, which define sexual assault as "physical touching" in a sexual manner without consent.
Those investigations received criticism from those who wondered whether the police should devote their limited time and resources to investigating rape offences, while real cases of rape in fact continued to rise.
According to the NGO Rape Crisis England and Wales, police recorded 68,109 rapes between July 2022 and June 2023. By the end of this 12-month period, charges had been filed in 2, 2% of cases, i.e. in 1498 cases.
However, British Home Secretary James Cleverly supports the ongoing investigation into virtual rape. Cleverly told the media: "I know this is easy to dismiss as not real, but the point of these virtual environments is that they are incredibly engaged."