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AR for Sexual Violence: Maintaining Ethical Balance While Enhancing Empathy

Chunwei Lin

TL;DR

Addressing stigma around sexual violence in Taiwan, the paper evaluates an AR installation designed to raise awareness and empathy while avoiding re-traumatization. The Light up the Room experience leverages Meta Spark AR on Instagram to engage a broad audience through survivor monologue, object-level interactions, and a room that unfolds into the real environment, emphasizing aftermath over the moment of violence. Findings indicate positive engagement and educational value, but some survivors reported discomfort, underscoring the need for careful content calibration. The study discusses policy and privacy considerations with platform constraints and highlights the risk of secondary trauma, offering design guidance for ethically balanced AR advocacy. Overall, the work contributes practical principles for deploying AR in social-justice contexts that strengthen empathy and support pathways for victims.

Abstract

This study showcases an augmented reality (AR) experience designed to promote gender justice and increase awareness of sexual violence in Taiwan. By leveraging AR, this project overcomes the limitations of offline exhibitions on social issues by motivating the public to participate and enhancing their willingness to delve into the topic. The discussion explores how direct exposure to sexual violence can induce negative emotions and secondary trauma among users. It also suggests strategies for using AR to alleviate such issues, particularly by avoiding simulations of actual incidents.

AR for Sexual Violence: Maintaining Ethical Balance While Enhancing Empathy

TL;DR

Addressing stigma around sexual violence in Taiwan, the paper evaluates an AR installation designed to raise awareness and empathy while avoiding re-traumatization. The Light up the Room experience leverages Meta Spark AR on Instagram to engage a broad audience through survivor monologue, object-level interactions, and a room that unfolds into the real environment, emphasizing aftermath over the moment of violence. Findings indicate positive engagement and educational value, but some survivors reported discomfort, underscoring the need for careful content calibration. The study discusses policy and privacy considerations with platform constraints and highlights the risk of secondary trauma, offering design guidance for ethically balanced AR advocacy. Overall, the work contributes practical principles for deploying AR in social-justice contexts that strengthen empathy and support pathways for victims.

Abstract

This study showcases an augmented reality (AR) experience designed to promote gender justice and increase awareness of sexual violence in Taiwan. By leveraging AR, this project overcomes the limitations of offline exhibitions on social issues by motivating the public to participate and enhancing their willingness to delve into the topic. The discussion explores how direct exposure to sexual violence can induce negative emotions and secondary trauma among users. It also suggests strategies for using AR to alleviate such issues, particularly by avoiding simulations of actual incidents.
Paper Structure (4 sections, 2 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 4 sections, 2 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Implementation
  3. Discussion
  4. Conclusion

Figures (2)

  • Figure 1: Screenshots of the "Light up the Room" project. (a-b) Initial instruction prompt. (c-f) Exploration process inside the victim's room. (g-h) Appearance of the room once illuminated and unfolded.
  • Figure 2: (a) Lightbox advertisement placed by the Modern Women's Foundation in Taipei Metro in 2019. (b) Protest messages written by victims in lipstick alongside the advertisement.