Posted on 02/16/2006 2:21:37 AM PST by Panerai
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."
Though the organization admits to being "adamantly opposed to any and all forms of censorship," as concerned parents themselves, they "wish to inform other parents of the potential danger extremely violent video games pose to children." Likewise, in the interest of promoting the rights of sex workers, the organization is opposed to the depiction of the rape and murder of prostitutes.
In the games, players can solicit "services" from prostitutes by driving their cars slowly near them. No sexual acts are in clear visible view, but during the "transaction," the player regains health and loses money. Though the player cannot actively rape prostitutes in the game, a possible rape is alluded to once during the storyline of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The prostitutes, like every other character, are also subject to homicide at the hands of the protagonist.
According to its Web site, SWOP USA is an organization dedicated to improving the lives of sex-industry workers and to the promotion of a safe working environment for the industry.
Me included?
How can you rape a prostitute? It seems like the crime is more like theft of services.
Just makes the PoS sell better.
Be nice if there WERE consequeces for making and selling such a piece of trash.
The world's first Prostitutes Union
Australia has become the first country to unionise the world's oldest profession, promising prostitutes the same rights afforded any other worker. By Jemima Walsh
I hate that you hate a signifcant portion of Freepers.. including me ;(
I'm not sure why my playing a video game would cause the hatred you profess. That's like saying I hate anyone who would carry a Kahr for personal protection. Irrational.
All your hate are belong to us
Hookers call for a boycott. Who are they going to threaten with their awesome purchasing power?
Mind explaining that one?
every day. heh heh (snicker)
Of course, if the game in question is Leisure Suit Larry...
Of course, if the game in question is Leisure Suit Larry...
It seemed a little extreme but not out of sorts for some on this board. That's why I asked for an explanation before I started cussing you :-)
No harm, no foul.
Stiletto Heel City, SlutWear Studio, AstroGlide and Trojan are all calling for an immediate resolution to the boycott!
LOL! OK! I was hoping it was something like that. :-)
Leisure Suit Larry huh...naw. However, I still wear pocket protectors... uhh maybe I should not have posted that tidbit. :-)
See #33.
[i]I hate people who play video games period. [/i]
I play Halo, Geometry Wars, Half-Life, Ms. Pac-Man, etcetera...so does my little brother. So does my father. So does my niece and nephew. And my two little sisters. And my brother's friends. And his friends' friends. And on and on...
Are you saying you hate all of us?
Wait, never mind. It was sarcasm. Sorry. XP
You care to elaborate what is wrong with people playing video games ? I'm an adult, and I like to play a good video game. It's exciting, and far more intellectually involved than watching TV.
And, I like to meet new and interesting people and kill them. In the virtual online battlefield, of course. (BF2 rocks!)
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