Domestic Violence (DV) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) disproportionately affect women, rooted in systemic inequalities and legal gaps that discourage help-seeking and perpetuate societal neglect. While traditional media raises awareness via third-person narratives, its immersive impact remains limited. Virtual Reality (VR), with its capacity for first-person perspective(1PP) immersion, offers a novel approach to simulating victims’ emotional and psychological distress. We developed a 1PP VR narrative immersing users in an abused housewife’s life through three escalating abuse episodes, targeting empathy and bystander efficacy enhancement. A pilot study (n = 36) measured pre/post-intervention changes using validated scales (BES-A, Bystander Efficacy Scale), revealing significant post-exposure empathy and bystander efficacy increases. Qualitative feedback highlighted participants’ reported heightened fear, empathy engagement, and intervention intent. By situating users in victims’ subjective experiences, VR transcends traditional media’s limitations, fostering visceral emotional responses and actionable empathy. This study demonstrates VR’s potential as an innovative empathy-building tool, bridging awareness-to-action gaps in DV/IPV responses through 1PP-driven immersion.