Can immersive virtual reality help prevent sexual harassment?

Experiencing harassment through the point of view of someone very close to you can lead to more profound changes than merely observing it from outside or hearing about it. This is the main hypothesis behind REVISE, a new research project carried out by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) to explore how immersive virtual reality can help prevent harassment and foster empathy, changes in attitudes and prosocial behaviour.

"Despite fully acknowledging that sexual harassment is a serious problem, many people fail to understand the personal and relational impact it can have on victims. This is particularly true for men. This is why we want to explore tools to create more immersive and emotionally meaningful experiences", said Alejandro Saavedra-Roa, a doctoral degree student and researcher of the project at the Clinical Psychology Innovation and Relational Care for Life Enhancement (CIRCLE Lab) group, which is attached to the eHealth Centre: Human and Planetary Health Research Centreat the UOC.

Rather than approaching it as a conventional training or awareness-raising tool, REVISE uses immersive virtual reality as a psychological intervention tool based on perspective-taking. The project, whose research protocol has already been published, will work with 90 heterosexual volunteer couples to examine how different experiences affect factors related to empathy, attitudes to sexual violence and prosocial responses. Volunteers will be recruited through the project website.

Using virtual reality to foster empathy

The goal of the REVISE project is to get participants to experience a situation from the point of view of their partner's identity. This perspective exchange made possible by the use of immersive virtual reality will enable the researchers to establish whether the experience changes when the participant sees it from the point of view of not just any woman but someone they care deeply about.

“Our hypothesis is that people process experiences differently when they're linked to someone that really matters to them", explained Saavedra-Roa. "When a participant experiences a harassment situation from the point of view of their partner's identity, they no longer see it as something that is theoretical or remote. Instead, it becomes emotionally significant and personally meaningful", said the researcher.

This hypothesis originated from a preliminary study, whose findings have not yet been published, that compared the responses of study subjects who were using a generic virtual avatar with those of subjects who were interacting through an avatar modelled on their partner. The differences in empathy and intensity of emotional response observed in that study laid the foundations for designing the research project that is now starting.

"We've proposed the concept of relational anchorage effect based on the idea that virtual reality can bring about change not only by enabling people to take someone else's perspective but also because that perspective can be linked to a relationship that is meaningful to them. Instead of picturing a random woman, participants imagine someone they love, someone that they care for and know well. This can turn a general moral reaction into a deeply relational and emotional experience", said the researcher.

According to the research protocol published for the study, the 90 heterosexual volunteer couples selected will be randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: immersive virtual reality (IVR) with partner identity exchange in a sexual harassment scenario, IVR with partner identity exchange in a neutral scenario or third-person observation of a sexual harassment scenario. The intervention involves a single IVR session, with assessments conducted at baseline, post-intervention, and at three-month follow-up. 

A field of study with interesting long-term prospects

The aim of the REVISE study is to establish whether IVR interventions can help reduce beliefs associated with sexual aggression, increase empathy, change attitudes related to gender roles, encourage prosocial behaviour and improve certain relationship dynamics within couples. To achieve this, participants will complete psychological questionnaires and take part in qualitative interviews after the immersive experience. In addition, physiological variables will be analysed through eye-tracking and pupillometry.

The researchers hope that these tests will enable them to identify changes associated with greater empathy, higher awareness of the impact of sexual harassment and a stronger inclination towards prosocial and supportive behaviours. They will also examine possible changes in attitudes relating to widely accepted beliefs and myths about sexual violence, as well as changes in how people perceive and respond to such situations.

"We also want to understand the mechanisms involved in these processes. For example, we want to examine how people recount their experiences, which aspects they remember, their physiological responses and the types of conversations that later emerge with their partners. We're also hoping to generate methodological knowledge on the use of immersive virtual reality in psychological research and the prevention of gender violence", said Saavedra-Roa.

Furthermore, the research project seeks to enrich the ethical and scientific discussion on the responsible use of immersive technologies with individual well-being at the centre. "In the long term, these tools could be used to supplement educational, university and community programmes aimed at preventing sexual violence and encouraging more empathetic and respectful relationships", he concluded. "In the longer term, and provided that its effectiveness is supported by research, its potential application in areas such as intervention programmes in prison settings or for people who have committed acts of violence would be worth exploring", said Saavedra-Roa.

Reference article
Saavedra-Roa A, Vallejo-Medina P, Seinfeld S, Bourdin-Kreitz P, Guillén-Riquelme A, Marsa-Sambola F, Medina J, Pineda-Marin C, Paz C, Angulo-Brunet A, Montesano A REVISE Virtual Reality Intervention to Prevent Sexual Harassment in Heterosexual Couples: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial JMIR Res Protoc 2026;15:e91993 URL: https://www.researchprotocols.org/2026/1/e91993 DOI: 10.2196/91993

This research is part of the UOC’s "Digital health and planetary well-being" research mission and supports UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, Health and Well-being, and 5, Gender Equality.