'Rape Simulator' Game Goes Viral

KOMPAS.com - Attempts to ban a deplorable "rape simulator" video game have only caused it to spread virally across the internet, leading to calls for sites hosting the game to be blocked by internet censors.

Karen Willis, executive officer of the NSW Rape Crisis Centre, said in a phone interview that the existence of material such as the RapeLay video game, which lets players simulate stalking and raping young girls, made internet filters, such as those proposed by the government, necessary.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has been at war with Google and many other internet companies, academics and lobby groups over the internet filtering policy.

He believes that filters are necessary to block content such as RapeLay for all Australians, but a poll on this website yesterday found 96 per cent of the 45,000 respondents did not support Senator Conroy's policy.

In the game players earn points for acts of sexual violence, including following girls on commuter trains, raping virgins and their mothers, and then forcing them to have abortions.

US online retailers Amazon and eBay in February last year took RapeLay off their websites, but the game's Yokohama-based maker Illusion brushed off the protests, saying the game was made for the domestic market and abided by laws in Japan.

But attempts by women's rights groups such as Equality Now to ban the game have only created a black market for it online, with dozens of websites offering it as a free download.

There is also a number of similar games available in Japan, many depicting young girls, under the "hentai" genre.

Sexual assault victims' rights advocate Nina Funnell is against online censorship but said: "These games are quite vile and for victims out there it's quite distressing to come across these games or even just be aware that they exist and there's a culture of rape tolerance and acceptance."

Willis said she "absolutely" believes the forthcoming internet filtering regime is necessary and should block sites that offer access to the game.