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inspect the case

Submitted by chagar on 18 October, 2005 - 12:21am. Dibbell's "A Rape in Cyberspace"

I believe that sexual harrassment is only a harrassment if the receiver of the message is offended on the basis of a "come-on" or sexual gesture. Some messages are offensive to some while not so offensive to others, and it is for this reason why everyone should be careful about the intentions of their messages (if they do not desire to sexually harrass someone) and how well they know the receiver.
Any message that is carried out via virtual medium has less authenticity in emotion, because you receive the message from a machine; there is less certainty of a deliberate, sexually-based, offense. After commenting on this belief, I will add that people generally feel less degraded, offended, etcetera, after receiving a potentially offensive message from a virtual medium than that of the same message sent in "real life," because the message loses it's authenticity through virtual reality. When an offender is being accused of sexual harrassment, he or she will probably have less of a case brought down upon them if the offense was made via online; there is more tone in an actual conversation, less of a chance for misunderstanding, and therefore, more proof for an offender to be tried in court. To conclude my stance on the difference between receiving sexual harrassment through virtual reality and actuality, I believe that the matters of "how offended was the offendee?" and "what were the intentions of the harrasser?" must be inspected closely. There is no firm definition on what is offensive and what can be considered sexual harrassment.

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yes

Submitted by Clive Thompson on 18 October, 2005 - 10:38am.

I agree with you on a case by case basis. The anonymity of identity online greatly reduces the effect of sexual harrasment as well as the ability to distinguish whether or not an act carried intent to harm. While it is wrong by nature, I believe there should be no standard for punishment. However, if there is potential for the harrassment to extend into the real, or if there is knowledge of the living identity of the victim, sexual harrassment online should be punished equally. There is a huge difference between a random comment to an anonymous user in a MUD/MOO and a comment made by someone who knows your real identity which may cause physical discomfort or distress at the thought of knowing the harrassment may continue outside of the virtual arena.

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yes indeed

Submitted by JamesonD on 18 October, 2005 - 9:11am.

I agree with your thoughts about how a virtual medium brings less of a case about for a sexual harassment issue. Someone in a chat room should definitely not be persecuted for someone getting uncomfortable by someone else. This is almost like the 5th law of Virtual Reality; no one should take anything to absolute truth or seriousness by means of a virtual medium. But in my opinion, I do think that sexual harassment shouldn't be as easy as it is. Only once someone has been brought into physical contact with someone, do I believe that it is sexual harassment. I like to think you can say what you want by our good old constitution, since words are definitely not as strong as physical contact. But I do realize the fault in this system, how right now someone can demean you on the street or someone can demean you in your office, but only the person in the office can get in trouble. Virtual reality doesn't need these same rules, people should feel free to say whatever profanities have been building in their head and not be persecuted.

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agree

Submitted by Abby on 18 October, 2005 - 11:02am.

There are boundaries for everything. Sexual harassment occuring over mediums are simply just words even if they describe profane gestures. Now when the boundary between the virtual world and the real world is crossed, sexual harassment is taken too far. Whenever someone in the virtual world crosses the boundary and pursues someone else in the real world without his or her agreement or consent, sexual harassment is taking place. Acutally, I think as long as someone is in fear of their safety due to a virtual identity, sexual harassment is occuring.

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