Safety vs. Social Image: Co-Designing Protection Mechanisms Against Ableist Harassment with People with Disabilities in Social Virtual Reality

2026-08-13

AI Summary

This study addresses the heightened vulnerability of disabled individuals to targeted harassment in social virtual reality (VR) due to increased identity visibility, a risk inadequately mitigated by existing safety mechanisms that fail to balance social presence with personal security. Drawing on Hall’s proxemics theory, the work introduces a four-zone spatial model for virtual environments and employs a participatory design approach with eleven disabled users to co-develop protective strategies through four categories of intervention probes: Inform, Educate, Consent, and Combat. Findings reveal that participants often respond to harassment with resilient optimism and prioritize maintaining their social identity over complete isolation. Building on these insights, the study formulates design guidelines for social VR safety mechanisms that effectively reconcile protection with authentic identity expression.

Abstract

People with disabilities (PWD) increasingly use avatars to express disability identities in social virtual reality (VR), but greater visibility also invites targeted harassment. Existing safety features are often insufficient, overlooking PWD's experiences and needs. To address this gap, we co-designed protection mechanisms with 11 PWD to reveal their values and needs. Our research employed a social lens to interpret harassment behaviors and protection mechanisms. Inspired by Hall's Proxemics Theory that interpersonal distances indicate social intent and boundaries, we divided social VR spaces into four proxemic zones (Intimate, Personal, Social, and Public) and used them to structure our protection mechanism co-design. We also provided different protection mechanism probes (Inform, Educate, Consent, and Combat) to elicit participant preferences. Our study highlighted the role of social proximity in shaping PWD's harassment perception and protection preferences and revealing PWD's unique social values and needs (e.g., managing harassment with optimism and resilience, prioritizing social image over safety). We proposed design recommendations for protection mechanisms that protect PWD while maintaining their desired social images.

Problem

• ableist harassment
• social virtual reality
• disability identity
• safety mechanisms
• social image

Innovation

• co-design
• proxemics
• social virtual reality
• ableist harassment
• disability identity