Women Are Targeted For Harassment In Online Gaming 'Roughly Three Times As Much', Says New Study

Gameranx: "Researchers at Ohio University observe Halo 3 players and come away with some startling numbers."

[Root]

No offence but when your online and you can hear them on your mic most of them bring it on themselfs

"Oh girl gamer here, coming through, going to beat the crap out of all you lads"

Online is a boys club, don't like it, don't play on it

Someone calls your mother, you call theirs back, they say your "gay" and you suck d***" then say something back....someone says your a asshole you say their a prick.

You can never fix online behaviour, so you may aswell man up and get on with it.

Sticks and Stones remember

[MikeMyers]

You can change behavior by addressing it and making them accountable. Just because they hide behind their anonymity doesn't mean you cannot do anything about it. Xbox Live allows the user to block people so you don't have to hear them. Their microphone stays blocked forever until you unblock them. You're right, some people don't care and will not change their attitude no matter what but that is a start.

If you lead by example then things don't get out of hand. Getting into this name calling back and forth only lowers yourself to their level. But look at who it is I'm talking to, one who plays the victim and suggest I am immature and attack you when all I did was question your tactics. Then to have you turn around and say cry more and here's a violin playing in the background and totally deflect. You are not accountable for your own actions. Which is why you will argue with moderators and create multiple accounts. You think you should have free reign and say whatever you like. Which means you have no empathy for others and are misguided in what is and what isn't acceptable behavior.

[Christopher]

***Online is a boys club, don't like it, don't play on it ***

Wow, with logic like this we wouldn't have women owning businesses, girl's sports, female politicians, and so much more.

***You can never fix online behaviour, so you may aswell man up and get on with it.***

Yeah, you actually can. It only takes others who actually care to say that what those people do is wrong and call them out on it. The problem is, people like you just accept it for what it is and many of you like what it is.

That doesn't make it right nor does it mean it can't be improved for the better.

[Root]

I accept it for what it is because it's something you have no control over. It's just one of those things you won't be able to change

I mean we're supposed to act different because of females, what happened to the whole equality thing. If it happens to males who are on it then I don't see why we need to make a big fuss over the same happening with females. People just get on with it, the online is full of immature people, especially younger guys, no matter how hard people will try to cut down on it new people will come into it and take their place.

Thats why I'm like get on with it, don't let other people stop you from enjoying yourself on a game.

Oh and as I've said above if wouldn't be as bad if most of these women don't make it so painfully obvious during a start of an online match what gender they are because come on....their just asking for trouble. You may as well change your gamer tag to "I'm a female gamer, pick on me". Girls try to do it for attention off guys and it doesn't work out in their favour in the end so they moan about it despite it being their fault.

They can improve the problem but online will never be rid of it.

[Christopher]

***I mean we're supposed to act different because of females, what happened to the whole equality thing.***

I don't act differently around women or men. Then again, I don't throw around offensive language, make racist remarks, or treat women as sex objects.

So, the issue here is how people think it's appropriate to act, which is supported by others acting the same way.

To say "that's how people act" is akin to saying "some people just own slaves" IMHO. \

***Oh and as I've said above if wouldn't be as bad if most of these women don't make it so painfully obvious during a start of an online match what gender they are because come on....their just asking for trouble.***

Yeah, officer, she was asking for it. Did you see the skirt she was wearing?!?

Horrible logic. Everyone should be able to freely join in and enjoy a game with one another without being ridiculed for who or what they are and everyone should treat everyone with respect. And when someone starts being offensive and harassing someone because they are a girl or a kid, they are the ones who should be kicked from the game and even reported to the mods/community managers.

[MikeMyers]

cgoodno,

You make a very good argument unlike the person you're responding to. Just because it happens doesn't mean we have to ignore it or not do anything about it. The culture needs to change and that is why girls/women are apprehensive about playing online. People even ridicule casual gamers. So this bully mentality really needs to stop.

"Yeah, officer, she was asking for it. Did you see the skirt she was wearing?!?"

Good point. People don't need to disguise themselves or use modded voices so other gamers don't know they are female.

You can do something about it and those who say you can't are the ones who don't want it to change.

[BlackWolf]

cgoodno
You make some really good valid points here. It is is true that the immaturity is always present online, and is undeniable difficult to stop it. But I wonder: Why should we allow or support this behavior? What happened with setting a example, being a gentleman?

If we are aware it's a flaw, we shouldn't just say "If I can't defeat them, I'll join them". A behavior that's constant doesn't mean is a nice way to act. We may not change anything with not doing the same as everyone, but at least you are satisfied knowing you are not part of this act of douchery.

Also, a girl's asking for it? Right, cause they're soo needing a group of obnoxious guys insulting her just because the combination of her chromosomes. That's a lame and pathetic excuse. If they are on a game with voice chat, it's obvious people will notice it's a girl speaking. There's really attention whores in online games, but it's not a general situation.

[jon1234]

boys club.... seriously.... online is for EVERYONE!

[Root]

I didn't say it wasn't for everyone

I'm just saying with how immature it is online it is a boys club

[jon1234]

thats why there is a mute button

[Stedron]

I'm with you root...I don't think I ever played ONE COD match where people weren't cussing up a storm and im sorry everyone but there is no fixing it. yea you can mute them but that's only fixing your problem.

[cleft5]

Pointless study. We already know that women get severely harassed in most games. It's a sad reality. The real question is how do we fix this without butchering the gaming community. Personally, I think the answer is just getting more and more women to play online games. When it stops being a surprise to encounter a women in an online lobby a lot of this stupidity will disappear. And the people who just want to mess with people need to be dealt with swiftly and harshly.

Harassing women in games don't just affect women, but everyone in the game they are being attacked in. I don't like having to deal with dumb asses or listening to them. And I don't want to play an online game and be in a lobby where some people are harassing a women either. Women have got to stop being nice or quiet when these idiots attack them and start getting loud and rude as hell. It's better to be a bitch than a victim.

[Fierce Musashi]

lol

Funny(+)

[ShaunCameron]

Meh. I say they need to woman up and take it like they can give it. After all, they're equal to men, right? Or only whenever it's convenient.

[Stedron]

Well said

[TongkatAli]

I was on Party Chat on my Vita yesterday and this girl was singing Rihanna for a moment and some douche was calling her so many profanities.

Me and this guy stuck up for her called him a dick and made everyone in the party chat mute him, felt good. You have to stick up for people you know ? common sense.

[cl1983]

At the same time people shouldn't do things to intentionally be annoying.

[TongkatAli]

I agree, but he was calling her a slut and to suck his you know : /

[hano]

Oh wow,
good job knight in shining armor.....

How nice of you, you're so brave.

[TongkatAli]

Double post

[VanguardOfCalamity]

with an entire generation raised on (what I can only describe as a punchline) "be yourself" - don't act so surprised when most people are kitten doughnut holes

[KillrateOmega]

To be fair, a fair number of girls bring it on themselves. Whether that be due to glaringly obvious gamertags/usernames or verbal proclamation of being a girl and bringing attention to it.

On the flipside, most dudes are just immature and disgusting like that :P

[Christopher]

Two wrongs don't make a right.

And, to be honest, what's the problem with bringing attention to it? Does she, in doing so, call others names? Does her saying "I'm a gamer girl and proud of it." mean you should call her names, deride her with offensive language and suggestions?

If someone comes on that's a guy and says "I'm the best, nobody can take me down." I merely say "And in the real world..." I don't curse at him, call him names, or the like. I think the same thing can be done with people who announce things that people just don't care about.

[KillrateOmega]

She would be a little naïve if she were to be that open about being a girl gamer and expect to not get that kind of bad attention while in a lobby. Not saying that she shouldn't be proud, but she shouldn't be surprised when it happens. It sucks, but it's a hard truth.

Granted, the general male population is way more chill about it than they used to be, but on occasion you still get dudes saying shit like, "HOw Big aRe ur TITZ?!!" or "Are U FAT?"

[Christopher]

***She would be a little naïve if she were to be that open about being a girl gamer and expect to not get that kind of bad attention while in a lobby.***

The point is, that's not how it should be.

It used to be a little naive to thing that a woman could run a business or hold the same position as a man in company as well.

Our society has so far to go as far as how we treat others, it's really sad. And the mentality that 'that's how it is' and 'she's naive to think otherwise' don't help.

[Hicken]

Stats like this make me wonder. A large part of this, I believe, is because they're outnumbered online. We hear a lot about how women make up "48%" of gamers, now, but we don't hear about WHERE in the gaming spectrum that's focused. For all we know, most of them are on the Wii playing exercise games.

(This isn't meant to offend, but just saying how little we know about those numbers, in general.)

So, we have an unknown number of females online, but they're likely outnumbered by a large margin. Not just by males, in general, but also by the males who are ignorant enough to perpetrate the acts we're currently discussing. The likelihood of a girl running into the harassment is higher because there are less of them to RECEIVE the harassment.

They say it's NOT really a product of the internet, but I disagree: the anonymity that online interactions give a person also serve to EMPOWER that person. I've definitely been told things over the internet I know folks wouldn't say to my face, generally due to my race. And, to be honest, I don't think it's COMPLETELY the fact that they feel a certain way; it seems more the idea that they can say whatever and get away with it.

Does the study say anything about the frequency of attacks that black people who identify as such online endure? I'm certain that number is higher than for white gamers.

Now, I'm not at all saying that what's happening is okay; far from it. But I think that as long as there are no repercussions, it will never change.

[Knightofelemia]

I dont mind girl gamers I have a few friends who are girl gamers and some can take the jokes most of the time they get hit on or they become a target in a game. But its not just girls that get harassed online it also involves people of other religions, countries, and sexual preference it happens anywhere anytime.