A little bit crazy eh?
Sex workers cry foul, say game “accrues points to players for the depiction of rape and murder of prostitutes.”
The Grand Theft Auto franchise is getting attacked from all angles. Joining the ranks of politicians, policemen, and attorneys in their crusade to see the game lifted from shelves are the nation’s sex workers. On its Web site, the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA is asking parents to assist them in calling for a ban of Take-Two Interactive’s controversial game.
Citing a 2001 document from the National Institute on Media and the Family’s David Walsh, SWOP is calling “on all parents and all gamers to boycott Grand Theft Auto.”
The organization quotes various points from Walsh’s paper, including, “Children are more likely to imitate a character with whom they identify with. In violent video games the player is often required to take the point of view of the shooter or perpetrator.”
Source: Gamespot
Apparently, the sex workers of the Sex Workers Outreach Project aren’t too happy about their ingame counterparts being treated violently in the GTA games. They note that the games are a bad influence on children, and might encourage rape and violent behavior towards prostitutes in real life.
SWOP Statement on Grand Theft Auto
The game Grand Theft Auto demonstrates attitudes and behaviors that reflect broader social attitudes toward prostitutes, who are made vulnerable because of their criminal status. Our outrage and disgust at the depictions of prostitutes in games such as GTA renew our call for absolute de-criminalization and repeal of all laws that outlaw the exchange of sex for money in order to end the violence directed at people believed to be prostitutes.
It’s a bit ridiculous if you ask me, are Soldiers going to start suing me because I enjoy blowing them up in Castle Wolfenstein?
Or Special Forces operatives…they will start suing Tom Clancy, omg Rainbow 6, YOU TRAUMATISED ME!?!
Woah — it never even occured to me to re-enact what happens in games: I’m a go out and rape me a prostitute tonight!
And if they don’t like that, hell, they should just sue these complaining prostitutes for giving me the idea.
Sheesh — obviously ‘common sense’ isn’t as ‘common’ as it’s cranked up to be….
I’d just like to point out that at no point in GTA is a prostitue actualy rapped. What the hell are they on about?
Sure, you can pick up a lady of the night, but only if she gets in your car of her own free will. You then have to pay for her services and once your done (after much car rocking) she gets out having been paid for said services. I know, I have played it and watched my money running down… obviously the people complaning as usual have little or no idea what the hell they are talking about..
Its not untill after they get out of the car that you can kill them, but lets face it, in GTA every one is fair game when your armed with huge veriaty of wepons….
So really, shouldn’t the whore union be pro gta because it encourages the young to go out and PAY for a whore.
:-)
Yeh the fuss about it is a bit insane. Why complain about video-games when an average commercial break in-between programs has even more sex and violence in it. [ Well, at least here in the Netherlands. ]
And there are plenty games that focus on criminal behaviour: all those war-games, numerous adventures where one has to steal, et cetera.. But not a single person complains about those? Some things I will just never understand. :)
Dunno..I think nowdays everything is just a lawsuit waiting to happen, people have the kaching dollars in their eyes everytime they think they can sue someone..
So they can buy more ‘grillz’ for their teeth.