There has been a boom in internet gaming over the past century, and along with it, follows the issue of virtual harassment. Often reported as more stressful and traumatic, than being stalked or harassed in person, virtual harassment has made online gamers hide their identity and even in some cases cease playing. Virtual harassment, defined as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the medium of internet” has placed individuals under attack from a barrage of humiliating, threatening and/or sexually explicit messages and images conveyed through means of forums, chat blogs and personal online profiles [1].
Virtual Harassment is ever so often deliberate and relentless, usually thought of as being humorous by the assaulter –one’s harassment is another’s wooing. However, the anonymity of the assault can be unnerving and worrying. The assaulter fails to realize the prognosis of their behavior on their victims, they can intentionally self-harm themselves, i.e. – cutting, scratching or burning to avoid dealing with reality.
Online gamers generally cringe at the idea of virtual harassment saying that it is merely a game, and victims should not take it so seriously. But truth be told, their actions can be more significant than they think. Even though characters in online gaming are unreal, the people behind them are not. With advancement in technology, virtual harassment has become difficult to detect or supervise giving bullies an elevated sense of power and control.
Women are often the center of attention online. The harassment female players receive can be demeaning, and insulting. Ugly, Slut, Fat bitch are generally the common words, online gamers use to threaten female players. It is hard to comprehend why one would use obscene words! It is evident from Fat, Ugly, or Slutty that women are marginalized daily; this can stir up psychological distress for the individual [2]. This blog also emphasizes the extent to which players go to make female players uncomfortable - give death threats, making inappropriate sexual sounds, or even constantly send derogatory direct messages .
Sexual harassment usually occurs in competitive games towards women as they are thought to be “distracting” or trying to “seek attention”. For instance, during a six day competition of cross assault video game tournament, Ms. Pakozdi an experienced gamer was harassed by her own coach because he was too overwhelmed to see her win. Many times he interrogated her on camera about her bra size often focusing the camera on her chest, feet and legs, and asked if she had a boyfriend. This unfortunately made her virtually suicide due to the severity of the harassment [3]. A few million watching the game tournament perhaps thought of this behavior as being acceptable; such profound behavior merely encourages online gamers to further sexually harass women. The coach's actions obviously illustrates a wrong message, it is most definitely not acceptable to harass another, be it any gender.
Online gaming is vastly dominated by males; games are often considered ‘theirs’. However, with more women drawn towards online gaming, there has been a significant rise in female players across all multi-player games. Many times females players are stigmatized and viewed as being inferior in the gaming world, despite their experience. Hence, when the gender of the avatar is revealed, i.e. the players know it is a girl, most of them get defensive / terrified and use sexual ways to intimidate the her. Women are equally capable of competing with men in the virtual world / online games and some of them can even prove to be better gamers than men. Truth be told, men cannot handle being overpowered because of their own prejudice towards women.
Everyone needs an outlet to relieve stress, to some online gaming is the most preferred method. Sexually harassing an individual out of plain old fun can have decremental affects on them, both physically and socially; these actions can leave scars on the victim forever! Harassment in virtual place constitutes as a form of real violence and ought to be understood and interpreted in a proper manner [4]. Online community and providers of online games have to do more to police online misconduct without invading privacy. They have to set up online grievance sections where the harassed are able to report incidents, get extended support and/or even counselling. More, it is important to understand that even though strong temptations might arise to harass others, it is essential to acknowledge that people impose a piece of themselves onto their avatars. Poor treatment can not only affect the avatar but the person behind the screen as well.
References:
[1] Hoff , D. L., & Mitchell, S. N. (2009). Cyber-bullying: causes, effects and remedies. Journal of Educational Administration, 47(5), 652-665.
[2] Fat, Ugly or Slutty. (2012). Retrieved from http://fatuglyorslutty.com
[3] O'Leary, A. (2012, August). In virtual play, sex harassment is all too real. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/us/sexual-harassment-in-online-gaming-stirs-anger.html?_r=0
[4] Shariff, S. & Hoff, D. L. (2007). "Cyber-bullying: clarifying legal boundaries for school supervision in cyber-space. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 1(1), 76-118.
