The Australian Christian Lobby has released a statement criticising the Classification Board’s failure to ban the sale of Grand Theft Auto V, as Target and Kmart pull it from shelves.
A classification refusal renders the sale of a product in Australia illegal.
A feature of GTA V is the ability for players to solicit sexual services from a prostitute and then kill her in order to retrieve the payment. These depictions of sexual activity and murder are in breach of two of the Classification Board’s guidelines about representations of “actual sexual violence” or “implied sexual violence related to incentives or rewards.”
Ms Wendy Francis, spokeswoman for the Australian Christian Lobby, criticised both the game’s content and the Board’s failure to challenge a social double standard about the treatment of women in games.
“There is a serious disconnect going on here,” Ms Francis said. “We cannot with one hand condemn the exploitation and sexualisation of women in real life, and with the other hand condone it in a virtual world. It should not matter that it’s happening on a screen. The themes and attitudes are just as real and probably more harmful to young people,” she said.
Meanwhile, Target and Kmart, two major sellers of the game, have promised to remove the game from their shelves.
Target General Manager Mr Jim Cooper, explained, “We’ve been speaking to many customers over recent days about the game, and there is a significant level of concern about the game’s content.”
Kmart, in a response it released about the game, has said that “following a significant review of all content in Grand Theft Auto Games Kmart has taken the decision to remove this product immediately. Kmart apologises for not being closer to the content of this game.”
Ms Francis, speaking for the Australian Christy Lobby, has called on other major retailers, like Big W, to also stop selling the video game. “We ask all retailers to follow Target’s lead and send a zero-tolerance message towards violence against women,” Ms Francis said.
