Sexual harassment in virtual reality feels all too real – 'it's creepy beyond creepy'

As the gaming world advances, women are facing the same physical threats online as offline. Players and developers want to do something about it

Striding through the snow-covered fortress, shooting zombies with her bow and arrow, Jordan Belamire felt like a god - right up until the moment someone named BigBro442 decided to "virtually rub [her] chest" and make her feel like just another "powerless woman".

"Even when I turned away from him, he chased me around, making grabbing and pinching motions near my chest," she wrote in a Medium post of her experience playing QuiVR, a virtual reality game. "Emboldened, he even shoved his hand toward my virtual crotch and began rubbing."