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

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.