News.com.au has run an interview with one of the petitioners asking Target to remove copies of Grand Theft Auto V from stores, who says “[g]ames like this are grooming yet another generation of boys to tolerate violence against women.”
The petitioner, referred to as Nicole of Perth, says the first-person view available in the current-gen version of the game really brings violence to another level.
“They have upped the ante with it being first-person. You get to feel what it feels like to do this to somebody,” she said. “To think the reward centre in their brain is aroused is disturbing. People say, ‘You are a prude, you want to ruin my fun’, but this is about torturing and the ritualised murder of women … It’s frightening that people are desensitised to it.”
The petition linked the following video to help make its case:
Nicole told News.com.au she was a victim of violence when she worked as a sex worker, asserting that her experiences make GTAV all the more traumatic.
“It is exceptionally triggering for survivors, to see it advertised on buses and to go into businesses and see it on the shelves,” she said.
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