A study shows that female gamers only describe half of the sexual harassment incidents they experience as such

A new study from the Kinsey Institute shows that only 50.5% of women who experienced sexual harassment while gambling online identified the incident as such. For women who witnessed sexual harassment of other women while gaming, that number dropped further to just 42.2%.

The work will be published in the journal Violence against women.

The study involved 182 women from North America who played online video games at least once a week. Researchers examined a variety of sexual harassment behaviors, from unwanted sexual comments to explicit images to sexual threats. Consistent with other studies, researchers found that the overall prevalence of sexual harassment while gaming online was high: 56.6% of participants experienced one or more types of sexual harassment while gaming online and 45.6% witnessed sexual harassment of other women.

Most of the perpetrators were strangers (79.8%). The most common types of sexual harassment included nonconsensual sexual comments, persistent romantic requests after being asked to stop, and sexual threats. However, even in clear examples (including rape threats), many participants did not recognize their experiences as sexual harassment when asked to label them, and instead sometimes dismissed the behaviors as “typical gamer interactions.” This is despite the fact that participants reported that these incidents caused varying levels of stress (3.32), embarrassment (2.29), frustration (4.08), and anxiety (2.86), measured on a 5-point scale -Scale.

“These findings are consistent with extensive research showing that women often do not describe their non-consensual sexual experiences as rape, sexual assault or sexual harassment. This is a factor that may discourage women from reporting these incidents,” said Dr. Zoe Peterson, director of the Kinsey Institute’s Sexual Assault Research Initiative and lead researcher on this study. “It is unfair to expect women to bear the responsibility of seeking protection when online gaming companies could implement systems that proactively protect them.”

The results suggest that online sexual harassment is a significant problem that causes psychological distress and negatively impacts women’s overall gaming experience, including those around them who witness the interaction. The authors also emphasize that gambling companies need to proactively monitor and address these behaviors by not just relying on player reports, but by creating a safer online environment and increasing accountability of perpetrators.

“As a gamer myself, I have experienced and witnessed countless incidents of women being harassed while gaming. “I hope my research will help make the gaming community a better place by encouraging gaming organizations to find better ways to protect and support female gamers,” said Yiyao Zhou, a doctoral candidate in Counseling psychology and research fellow at the Kinsey Institute who led this study.