Woman forced to protect girl, 7, from gang of men making rape threat 'jokes' in metaverse
dailystar.co.ukMetaverse app.VRChat, which lets people meet up in a virtual VR world as 3D avatars, has been criticised for a lack of stricter age controls after this and similar incidents in which young children are being exposed to adult content, sexual material, and even grooming.Metaverse researcher Catherine Allen said she encountered a seven-year-old girl in a chatroom.
The two of them were surrounded by a group of men in VR who joked about raping them both, and Ms Allen said she had to step between the gang and the girl to protect her.Although many VRChat 'rooms' are innocent spaces where people meet up and talk, there is a dark side to to the game which includes virtual strip clubs and other adult spaces that are easy for children to access.
BBC researcher Jess Sherwood said she witnessed people simulating group sex publicly, others making rape threats, and even one user "shoving a beer bottle up all the female characters".
She said: "VRChat definitely felt more like an adult's playground than a child's."A lot of the rooms were overtly sexualised in pink neon, similar to what you might see in the red light district in Amsterdam or in the more seedy parts of London's Soho at night.
Read more on dailystar.co.uk
