Sexual Assault Victimization in Virtual Worlds

• In Event: Victimization in Online Contexts

Abstract

The current research examined sexual assault victimization in virtual worlds – environments, where individuals engage through avatars, offering a deep level of immersion and interactivity. As the usage of these virtual spaces grows, so does the concern for negative experience that mirror the sexual assault encountered in the physical world. Despite this, there is a notable gap in the quantitative analysis of virtual sexual assault (VSA) victimization. This research aimed to fill this void by exploring the prevalence of VSA victimization over the previous year and identifying potential predictors of VSA victimization through the lens of cyberlifestyle-routine activity theory. To achieve this, the current research recruited a large sample English-speaking participants between the ages of 18 and 60, who have used virtual worlds via Mechanical Turk (MTurk) using CloudResearch. The findings of the current research will offer new insights into the prevalence of VSA victimization, there by contributing to a heightened awareness and the formulation of relevant policies. Moreover, the application of the cyberlifestyle-routine activity theory to the context of VSA will extend the theory’s relevance, potentially guiding the creation of safer and more secure virtual environments.

Author

• Narim Lee, University of Central Florida