Rape game provokes disgust around the world

A Japanese personal computer game that allows players to stalk and rape female victims has triggered a furious response from international women's rights groups and forced the maker to suspend shipments.

The Yokohama-based computer software company announced on its website on Monday that it would stop selling copies of "RapeLay," which went on sale three years ago but escaped controversy until earlier this year.

The game has been denounced by the New York-based women's rights organization Equality Now, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and other groups.

Amazon.com withdrew the title from its sites outside Japan immediately after a newspaper in Northern Ireland described the game as a "shocking 'rape simulator'" in February.

The online retailer dropped sales in Japan in late April.

At the outset of "RapeLay," gamers direct a character to seek a sadistic round of revenge on a woman who reported him for groping her on a train. He stalks and corners his young victim and sexually assaults her, then her sister and mother.

The game went on sale at electric appliance retailers and over the Internet in April 2006, with a rating of "R-18" (under age 18 prohibited).

The manual warned gamers that "if you do the same thing in real life, you will be penalized. The game is a drama and fiction. Never attempt to imitate it."

Equality Now, a collective that campaigns against sexual violence and discrimination toward women, implored its 30,000 members on May 6 to write letters of protest to the production company.

A coalition of women's rights organizations, including UNIFEM's Japanese committee, has also protested to the maker. The coalition will sponsor a women's conference in Sakai in October.

Masahiro Uzaki, a professor of constitutional law at Dokkyo Law School and an expert in freedom of expression, said the content of "RapeLay" raised serious ethical objections although it may not clearly break any laws.

"If we are asked whether or not it constitutes a violation of law, it would be difficult to label the game illegal. But in light of ethical considerations, it's hardly within the socially permissible zone," he said.

"If the industry keeps things the way they are, it could start a backlash from the public and prompt calls for a legal crackdown. The industry should come up with its own appropriate restrictions in part to protect its own freedom of expression."

Critics say "RapeLay" is just one of several violent and otherwise controversial computer games on sale in Japan.

Personal computer games are screened before shipment by the Ethics Organization of Computer Software, an industry organization made up of more than 200 software production companies.

About 1,000 game titles that contain animation are reviewed each year.

A senior official of the organization said its self-imposed ethical standards were much stricter than laws such as the Criminal Code, which prohibits distribution of indecent products.

"But as far as storylines are concerned, we cannot easily say 'no' because freedom of expression is at issue," the official said. "Some novels, comics and movies also contain extreme content."

The official added, however, that the body would consider reviewing its ethics screening standards in response to growing criticism.(IHT/Asahi: May 14,2009)