Introduction
It is often believed that rape and harassment are possible only in the physical world, when people directly face one another. The idea of a sexual assault in the cyberspace is not fully acceptable for everyone. Nevertheless, the findings of researchers suggest that such crimes may also exist in the cyber space.
This paper is aimed at discussing the possibility of a sexual assault via the virtual world avatar. At first glance, such an event may seem almost inconceivable for any person because the victim and the perpetrator do not into direct contact with each other. This question can be better examined if people look at the concept of sexual assault from a slightly different perspective.
For instance, it can be viewed as a form of bulling or intimidation of sexual nature which eventually can harm the emotional life of a victim. In many cases, this emotional distress can be more dangerous than physical injuries. Provided, that this definition is adopted, the possibility of a sexual assault via the virtual world avatar seems more probable or at least imaginable. On the whole, it is possible to say that sexual assault via the virtual avatar is possible, but it does not have the same degree of severity.
Moreover, this misconduct may produce long-lasting effects in the real world, and may even lead to the victimization of a person. Therefore, the task of online community and legislators is to eliminate the risk of such events. To illustrate this thesis, one should first discuss the concept of avatar and explain why it is important for an individual. Secondly, it is necessary to examine the cases of such sexual assault and speak about the possible effects of such events on an individual.
The importance of avatars for users
The first question that should be discussed is the significance of a virtual world avatar for a user. At first glance, one can assume that avatars do not play an important role for a person. Overall, the very term avatar can be defined as a graphical representation of a person’s character or alter ego. It may take very different forms, for instance, a two-dimensional icon if a user takes part in an Internet forum. Moreover, it can be a three-dimensional figure when a person plays video games.
In their research article, Kristine Nowak and Christian Rauw (2006) argue that people can attach importance to their virtual world avatars. In particular, in most cases, users prefer human avatars match their gender (Nowak & Rauw, 2006, p. 153). More importantly, people want their avatars to be original (Nowak & Rauw, 2006, p. 161). This study suggests that avatars are not dehumanized as one can assume. In the majority of cases, users want their avatars to have physical characteristics of a human being.
Thus, it is possible to say that avatar is of some value to a person, and he/she does not it to be defaced, damaged, or mutilated in any way. Many people develop an emotional attachment to their avatars. They are not likely to remain indifferent provided that these avatars are sexually assaulted or subjected to any other forms of abuse.
So, these graphical objects are not completely meaningless to users. This is one of the key issues that should be kept in mind. Surely, scholars cannot claim that an avatar is an extension of a real-life person. Such a statement will be too exaggerated. Nevertheless, there is some link between them even though it is not openly acknowledged. Avatars usually play a very important role for users who continuously visit online forums or play video games on the Internet. Such individuals can be more vulnerable.
The cases of a sexual assault via the virtual world avatar
The second important task is to examine the instances of sexual assault via the virtual world avatars. Certainly, such cases are not very widespread and they are not documented in criminal records, but they have been reported by users who believe that their human rights have been violated.
There are several people who fell victims to rather practical jokes. The LambdaMOO attack is probably the most notorious case of sexual assault via the virtual world avatar (Sando, 2010, p. 49). It should be mentioned that LambdaMOO is an online community where users can interact with the help of textual messages (Sando, 2010, p. 49).
The controversy arose when one of the users known as Mr. Bungle appied a program that enabled him to describe sexual acts that other users performed on one another (Simpson, 2011, p. 11). The thing is that other people were unable to control their avatars, and the perpetrator could do whatever he or she wanted. The LambdaMOO is the event that gave rise to the idea of a virtual crime.
This misconduct caused resentment among many users of this online community. Those people, who became the victims of Mr. Bungle attacks, requested that this person should be excluded from LambdaMOO. Moreover, in 2007 a user of Second Life informed that her avatar had been sexually assaulted (Warren & Palmer, 2010, p. 2).
The main difference between these cases is that Second Life enables users to interact via three-dimensional avatars (Simpson, 2011, p. 14). So, one can assume that sexual assault via an avatar is more probable in three-dimensional environment. Thus sexual assaults in the cyberspace are conceivable and there are some people who already suffered from them.
Surely, one cannot argue that these cases had any legal implications, but they highlighted the necessity to enforce the rules of online communities and protect the users from such attacks because they definitely affected the emotional life of real-life people. This is one of the main points that should be taken into account at by the organizations that operate virtual communities. They should not disregard the complaints expressed by the victims of such assaults because these people have significant reasons to voice their discontent.
Moreover, it should be noted that in many virtual environments people can have sex via avatars. Such a scholar as Gabrielle Russell believes that under such circumstances the probability of cyberspace pedophilia and rape can increase (Russell, 2008, p. 1481). Therefore, people should not assume the possible victim is always an adult person who is more resilient to stress.
Sexual assault via a virtual world avatar can be an extremely difficult experience for a child or adolescent. This is one of the reasons why people should not disregard such cases, because some users are much more vulnerable than others. Therefore, a sexual assault via an avatar is not unthinkable as some people may believe.
The concept of virtual sexual assault and its possible effects
The critical question that one should discuss is whether the so-called virtual assault can be compared in any way to a real-life assault. At first glance, it is easy to argue that such misconduct is harmless because it does not lead to any physical injury. Yet, such scholars as Charles Wankel and Shaun Malleck (2009) point out that sexual assault cannot be reduced only to physical dimensions because such view on rape is too simplistic (p. 26).
Their main argument is that an emotional trauma can be a more dangerous consequence of a sexual assault and its effects may be difficult to overcome (Wankel & Malleck, 2009, p. 26). The key argument is expressed by many scholars is that the effects of such cyberspace assault are not as harmful as many people tend to believe. The thing is that a person, who has been subjected to such humiliation in the virtual world, can suffer from psychological trauma for a very long time.
In particular, these people usually experience insecurity, shock, humiliation, and loss of confidence (Warren & Palmer, 2010, p. 2). Therefore, virtual and real worlds cannot be completely separated from one another. Moreover, avatars are supposed to represent a real person who has feelings, emotions, needs and dignity and they have to be protected by the law. So, it is not permissible to turn a blind eye to such cases.
This issue can also be important for legislators who already begin to pay more attention to cybercrime. Certainly, at this point, more emphasis is placed the financial aspects of cybercrime. However, cybercrimes related to sex are also worth considering. The main point is that a sexual assault via an avatar can produce very detrimental results.
Surely, one should take into account that the idea of a virtual sexual assault can be criticized. The skeptics who do not believe in the idea of virtual rape argue that it is hardly possible because there is a distinction between virtual and real worlds. Their main argument is that the things that happen online usually “stay online” (Simpson, 2011, p. 1). In other words, it is often assumed that a person can easily distance oneself from his/her virtual world avatar. Moreover, some people can argue that such behavior do not have any implications for the users. This objection should not be disregarded because to a certain extent it is correct. Surely, Internet users can understand the difference between virtual and real worlds.
Nevertheless, scholars emphasize the idea that online communities are made up of real world people, and some of them can be vulnerable to such insults (Simpson, 2011, p. 1). Furthermore, the fact that people are communicating in the cyberspace, does not eliminate the necessity for ethical rules or behavioral norms that should be followed. Complete disregard of these rules should lead to the exclusion of a person from an online community.
First of all, the reports of LambdaMOO users who were subjected to the sexual assault, suggest that the feelings of these people were hurt (Simpson, 2011, p. 3). These people do not regard this accident only as a practical joke. Such people can experience shame and distrust (Warren & Palmer, 2010, p. 2). Even if the identity of these users remains anonymous, they will be reluctant to be a part of online communities.
Moreover, some of these females can be unwilling to communicate with males even if they have nothing to do with the sexual assault. Again, the effects of such an event can be more significant on adolescents or children who are also active members of online communities. Therefore, it is not quite permissible to say that the things that happen online always stay online and one cannot state that a virtual sexual assault does not produce any impacts on an individual.
In this case, the main problem is that the effects of such crimes have not been sufficiently examined. As a rule, victims of such misconduct do not want to tell others about such incidents. To some extent, their behavior can be explained by their unwillingness to be ridiculed. This is why not much attention is paid to this problem. Nevertheless, it is not permissible to claim a sexual assault via the virtual world avatar poses no risk for a person.
Admittedly, criminal punishment for such activities may not be necessary, but one has to develop strategies of protecting users who have a right to use Internet without being exposed to the risks of humiliation. Without such protective measures the existence of such online communities can be threatened.
At this point, it is vital to show that sexual assault via a virtual world avatar can have direct implications for distinct effects on the social or even professional life of a person. For instance, in her article, Mary Franks (2012) constructs a hypothetical situation when a person, who is subjected sexual harassment on the Internet, can be ridiculed by other people (p. 683). The problem is that the victim can be described by a perpetrator as a promiscuous person who is willing to enter sexual intercourse (Franks, 2012, p. 683).
The thing is that this information can be accessible to a variety of people, for instance, colleagues, friends, fellow-students, and so forth (Franks, 2012, p. 683). To some degree, this sexual assault can turn into a form of public humiliation and a victim will not be able to have good social relations with other people. This is one of the dangers that legislators should take into consideration. One cannot ensure that the real identity of the victim remains anonymous and such a person may be exposed to various threats.
Apart from that researchers point out that cyberspace sexual assaults have several important features:
- complete anonymity of the perpetrator;
- potential willingness of other people to join the harassers; and
- permanence of assaults (Franks, 2012, p. 683).
So, one should note that a person can be victimized for a long time by many people. The consequences of this victimization can be very dangerous and unpredictable. In most cases, a person, who has been subjected to a cyberspace sexual assault, may not want other people to know about this event.
However, in many cases, the anonymity of the victim cannot be ensured. In the long term, such sexual assaults can have implications for the real life of this person, especially his/her relations with the opposite sex. This is why people should not assume that virtual sexual assault does not have any connection to the real world. It is quite possible to argue that cyberspace rape can affect the emotional wellbeing of this individual and his/her treatment of other people.
Overall, the quality of their lives can be impaired. Therefore, online communities should be able to protect themselves against such assaults. More importantly legislators should take a more close view on this problem because some forms of cyberspace misconduct can be tried in the court especially if it is possible to determine who committed the sexual assault.
Additionally, various studies suggest that violence and deviational behavior in the virtual world can be linked to real-life aggression. For instance, according to the findings of psychologists, a person, who plays violent video games, is more likely to behave violently when treating real people. (Smith, 2004, p. 72).
This example is important because it shows that the behavior in cyberspace can be mimicked in the real world. Therefore, one can hypothesize that the toleration of sexual assault via an avatar can actually increase the probability of real-life assaults.
The problem is that such misconduct can make the very idea of a rape or assault more acceptable to a person, especially if his/her values and principles are shaped by video games. Thus, it is not permissible to argue that such events are completely unimportant.
Even if legislators assume that there is no significant risk for the victims of a virtual sexual assault, they should not forget about the possibility of a real-world rape or violence. This is another reason why the risk of a sexual assault via an avatar cannot be dismissed out of hand. The examples which have been provided in this section suggest that virtual sexual assaults can have implications in the real world.
Discussion
Certainly, it is not permissible to argue that sexual assault in cyberspace have the same impact on the victim as those ones committed in the real world. Such a statement will be too far-fetched. Moreover, one cannot say that they should be punished in the same way because a cyberspace sexual assault does not have the same degree of severity. Nevertheless, such form of misconduct can really hurt a victim, and its influence on a person may be very adverse.
This is why online companies that create online communities should make sure that the risks of such events are minimized. Furthermore, such a researcher as Nicolas Suzor (2012) believes that a sexual assault via an avatar actually fits such a category as sexual harassment (p. 558).
Moreover, some scholars point out such misconduct can be viewed as a form of a tort, namely, the infliction of emotional trauma (Duranske, 2008, p. 180). Thus, deviant behavior in the cyberspace can have legal implications for a victim and a perpetrator, even despite the fact that such actions are supposed to stay online. The main task is to find ways of reducing the risks of such events; otherwise Internet can turn in a place of extreme insecurity.
On the whole, the idea of punishment for virtual crimes has been discussed by some scholars. For instance, Marcus Johansson argues that there should be a distinction between virtual and real-world crime (2009, p. 75). Moreover, he rejects the idea of short-term imprisonment or fines that should may be imposed on a person who violates the rules of online community.
The main strategy should be complete exclusion of this person from this community (Johansson, 2009, p. 75). This is perhaps the most adequate punishment for such an individual. Yet, one should remember that there are exceptional cases when a person begins to be victimized in the real world, especially when the information about the so-called online rape is revealed to other people. Under such circumstances, legislators should consider the possibility of a punishment that should be imposed by the court.
Conclusion
Overall, these examples suggest that a sexual assault via the virtual world avatar may be possible, but it does not have the same adverse impacts on a person. At this point, there is no agreement among legal scholars whether such form of misdemeanor should be punished by the law.
However, people have to accept the idea that it can have an adverse influence on the emotional state of the victim. This issue can have significant implications for the administrators of online forums or virtual games where users interact via avatars. These people should make sure that an individual is not victimized by others.
Policy-makers may not recognize virtual sexual assault as a legal concept that has to be punished by the law. But one should not deny possible adverse effects of such behavior on real people. At this point, one still has to understand how the events in the virtual world affect user’s wellbeing, however, they are not always beneficial. A sexual assault via an avatar can lead to significant emotional distress which can be very harmful.
Reference List
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