The New Year opened with The Daily Mail screaming about a virtual gangrape in the metaverse, where a 16-year-old UK girl’s digital persona was attacked by a gang of adult men in an immersive video game.

It also said the British police are probing the case, a first in the world.

Many such cases — and investigations — are sure to follow, forcing The Guardian to loudly wonder, Is this the beginning of a dark new future? This is not the dystopian world that Aldous Huxley had created almost a century ago.

This is as real as reality could be, and we are living in it — a world where avatars assemble, as portrayed in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. And incidentally, the term metaverse came from the same novel.

Psychotherapist Nina Jane Patel

The warning was already there. Sometime in 2021, psychotherapist Nina Jane Patel was left shocked after three or four avatars attacked her in the metaverse, Meta’s virtual world. She termed it a “surreal nightmare”.

Patel’s was not an isolated case. Instances of people, especially women and girls, getting targetted have been reported several times in the past.

Patel is the co-founder of Kabuni, has extensively researched the metaverse. In an exclusive interview with South First, Patel speaks about how such “surreal nightmares”, while occurring in a virtual setting, has real-world implications.

She also highlights the blurred lines between digital and physical experiences and the profound effects they can have on individuals, especially children and teenagers.

This interview is not just a conversation: It’s a wake-up call for action involving parents, educators, lawmakers, enforcers, technology developers, and society as a whole to recognise and address the potential dangers in the metaverse. Here are excerpts from the interview:

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Q: What is the metaverse?

A: It is a shared online space where real and digital worlds mix, creating different places for people to interact. In this space, one puts on a head-mounted display on their headset, and then enters a platform. You select your avatar and proceed to enter a social virtual environment where you’re engaged with other people, represented as avatars in a digital environment.

There is a high level of immersion, presence, and embodiment, which makes the digital environment feel very authentic, very real, and a compelling place to spend our time. It gives the feeling of being present there in whatever avatar you choose to be.

It’s not a new technology, but it’s only recently becoming accessible to mainstream society, in the context of being able to purchase reasonably priced headsets and platforms that generate environments inviting you, me, our children, our families, and our friends to engage in these environments in new and exciting ways.

Q: While the recent UK incident may be the first to be officially reported, you are a survivor of a similar assault in 2021. Could you tell us about the incident, if you are okay with it?

A: First, I would like to acknowledge the courage of this young girl who has come forward, and reported that she was attacked, and offered to cooperate with the police investigation to hold the perpetrators accountable.

I truly applaud her bravery, as well as the support of her parents and caregivers in initiating this conversation with the police, thereby bringing even more attention to the matter.

So, back in 2021, when a commercial platform was launched here in the UK, like many others, I entered the virtual space. I selected my avatar and went to the communal area, this lobby space, where an attack rapidly ensued against me.

This involved about 3 to 4 male-presenting avatars, with male voices, who first verbally and then sexually assaulted me, continuing what I can only describe as the sexual assault of my avatar.

I attempted to move to another area. But they were relentless in their pursuit. It felt very targeted and aggressive.

Then, in 2021, I wrote about it, considering if it had been one of my children, one of my four who are teenagers. This behaviour is unacceptable. This is not what virtual reality should represent. I realised I needed to speak up and out, just as this young girl has recently done, to share my experience and alert others to the potential psychological and physiological harms in the metaverse and future technological developments.

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Q: Do you believe that there may be several people who have experienced similar or other attacks globally?

A: Absolutely. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m part of a research project with the University of East London and Middlesex University, where we consulted children and young people aged eight to 16. Their feedback was concerning. They feel unsafe in the metaverse. They often encounter abuse, homophobia, and misogyny, either directed at them or others, in social virtual environments. They don’t feel safe. It’s a fact that this is happening, and not enough is being done to prevent it and to protect our children.

Q: You are a psychotherapist as well. What would of the kind of trauma that a child may experiece?

A: Yes, the technology is such that it increasingly blurs the lines between the virtual and physical worlds. We know that children and young people can connect with the digital world in very meaningful ways. This connection can be positive, helping them stay engaged with friends, communication, learning, and other potentially positive aspects of the technology. However, they also feel deeply connected to their avatars, emotionally, mentally, and potentially physiologically.

Evidence indicates that experiences in virtual reality elicit physiological responses in the body as if they were happening in the real world. Our bodies react as though it’s real because it feels lifelike and authentic. Indeed, the entire design of the technology aims to replace reality with as much fidelity as our current experience allows.

Q: Do we have enough laws in place to deal with such incidents? What should lawmakers start focusing on here?

A: Well, laws should align with concerns about child exploitation and sexual abuse within online spaces. Some existing laws might extend to the metaverse, particularly regarding the sharing of images of children and young people in sexual activities or being abused. These laws could be applied to the metaverse.

The challenge lies in addressing assaults or trauma that occur in real-time and are not text-based, involving non-verbal communication and happening instantly.

Often, there’s no evidence or means for a police investigation. Moreover, each platform has different mechanisms for blocking and reporting such incidents, making it difficult for adults, and even more so for a child, to handle trauma in this space.

This often leads to these incidents going unmentioned, perpetuating a cycle of misuse of technology and abusive behaviour, which children quickly learn and replicate. This is a significant issue in a three-dimensional internet where we’re fully immersed and present in a digital environment.

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Q: Could you share some tips on identifying such behaviours in the metaverse?

A: First, if you’re a child or a parent with children, it’s important to engage together in technology. Understand and explore new worlds with your child, whether that’s both in a headset or through some form of screen sharing to a separate device, so you can see the environment, what’s happening, and who else is there.

Know that each platform has different intentions for the activities it hosts. Some are designed with darker intentions and negative social implications. You certainly don’t want your children engaging in those.

However, these values can cross over into what we might call more social virtual environments that invite us to meet friends and family.

What often happens, as in the case of this young girl, is that someone behaves inappropriately in one platform and brings those behaviours, which might be rewarded in a gaming environment, into an environment not meant for that type of activity.

If your child reports something negative, or if you experience it, take it seriously. Your feelings are valid. Do not underestimate the power of technology and your physiological reactions to it. It’s important to validate that such behaviour is unacceptable, to speak up, report it, and block the perpetrators.

Use the platform’s mechanisms to show that you find this behaviour unacceptable.

We are in the early days of the metaverse. All these platforms are still learning the best ways to foster community. They rely on us, as individuals, families, communities, and society, to demand metaverse environments that are safe.

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Q: Is there any way for a user on the metaverse to ensure they have enough evidence to bring forth in case of an incident, and make it known to law enforcement?

A: Unfortunately, with the plethora of platforms available for gaming, entertainment, and social virtual environments, each has different mechanisms for action. The blocking and reporting mechanisms vary across platforms, and the reporting process, if available, is also different. Therefore, giving blanket advice isn’t practical in this situation.

What I advise is to thoroughly read the terms and conditions of each platform. Visit their websites to understand the procedures for when things go wrong, and how to block and report incidents. If a platform doesn’t have a system for this, it’s better to avoid it, as it likely wasn’t built with safety in mind, nor does it hold negative or illegal behaviours accountable.

Unfortunately, the responsibility falls on the user to understand the terms, conditions, best practices, and policy guidelines of each platform. This shouldn’t be the case, especially considering children’s rights to play, learn, and grow free from harm. Yet, we’re still replicating the same mistakes made with the internet, creating another digital environment where children need to protect themselves and worry about negative behaviour before they can fully engage and enjoy the technology.

Q: Do you believe that women leaders should be involved in policymaking, particularly in technology development and in the industry itself? Should their voices be heard more in developing these systems?

A: Absolutely. Unfortunately, in the current state of technology and innovation, there are not enough women involved in designing, creating, and establishing policies for these digital environments that we will all engage with in the future.

Often, it’s the same stereotypical group at the decision-making table, lacking the lived experiences necessary to contemplate the best policies for safety and thriving, which is entirely possible. It’s not the technology that’s limiting us, but rather the ecosystem in which we innovate.

Q: Is there anything more you would like to tell our readers?

A: Yes, one last thing. While there are dangers in the metaverse, if we, as parents and communities, uphold the values we believe in, especially in a world where the metaverse is a topic of discussion, then we must engage with the technology.

We can’t ignore it because those with bad intentions are actively engaging with and building the technology, and they will ultimately prevail if we don’t act. As women, as parents, and as believers in an equal society, we need to be involved, speak up, and demand a better system.