In class on Monday we got into a pretty deep conversation about virtual rape and the kind of problems and questions that arise because of this issue. I was pretty shocked to find out that virtual rape has been an issue since the early 90′s. I never would have thought that anyone could or would use strictly text to violate another user in such a disgusting way. This class discussion really struck a nerve with me because I have been an active advocate for survivors of sexual violence for the past few years and I was shocked by the fact that I had never thought of such violation happening over the Internet.
My mind was racing during class because I was thinking how there are really no laws that can protect people from sexual violence in a virtual context. I mean, there’s no doubt in my mind that virtual rape and physical rape are two very different things, but I would imagine that virtual rape can leave a person feeling extremely violated and disturbed. I have worked on committees to help organizations revise their sexual assault policies and I can only briefly recall talking about harassment in a virtual sense, and that one conversation strictly dealt with AIM chats. We didn’t even touch on things like Second Life, etc. What would happen in this kind of situation? There aren’t any policies to protect people from virtual rape and this really disturbs me.
Talking about Rapelay also made my mind race. Why the hell would anyone want to play this game? Why would a person create this game? Should people be allowed to buy this game? Does it some way violate freedom speech or freedom of expression? All these simultaneous questions just about made my head explode. I have known about Rapelay for sometime and every time I hear it ever mentioned I get a little bit nauseous. I would really be curious to know why people play this game or why someone had the desire to create it. I would think that only individuals who have the desire to rape or have raped in the past would want to play something like this, but I’m just not sure. I guess argument could be made for Border Patrol; only people who want to kill Mexicans play this game. But, I know several individuals who have played it in attempt to analyze the procedural rhetoric behind the game and not because they want to kill Mexicans. As much as my gut tells me to assume all people who play Rapelay are rapists, I know I can’t make that assumption based on how many individuals’ identities change when they are in a virtual context. All I know is the game makes me sick and I could never play it even if it was just as a way to analyze procedural rhetoric.
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