You may be interested to read some coverage of this subject by games journalist (and hentai-game enthusiast) Leigh Alexander:
http://sexyvideogameland.blogspot.com/2009/02/was-rapelay-asking-for-it.html
http://sexyvideogameland.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-last-word-on-rapelay.html

and on DHSGIT:
http://sexyvideogameland.blogspot.com/2009/02/big-trouble-for-dangerous-high-school.html

One more insight to add…last week I sent this post to a guy friend, and he said he felt like this conversation wasn’t meant for him. To me that sentiment exemplifies one of my points. As I saw both on the student retreat and through online research for this story, when it comes to the subject of sexual assault there are two disparate, gender-divided conversations going on about this complex issue. Any thoughts about this?

Mnemosyne: The author’s suggested solution to this problem (and games that simulate rape are, IMHO, a problem) was not to institute a ban. She suggested that increasing the number of women in the industry involved in game development would help create needed dialogue. More dialogue would likely result in an increased awareness of the fact that rape isn’t fun or funny. And I think she’s right.

That said, if a private company like Amazon wants to stop selling a product that it deems offensive, it has the right to do so. This is not a First Amendment violation.

I agree with Katherine that it’s great to hear from you. I would be interested in hearing more about your experience as a woman in the gaming industry. Have you encountered any direct or indirect discrimination?

I see some interesting parallels with this post and these comments with some studies I reviewed regarding the effects pornography and violent pornography have on audiences. Generally speaking, viewing violent pornography tends to raise/create feelings of aggression toward women. In addition, studies have shown that audiences viewing violent pornography do become desensitized to sexual violence, which is something we should want to avoid at all costs since sexual violence is already such a pervasive social problem.

While my Master’s capstone (thesis) focused on the framing of sexual violence in the media, I needed to look at the social perceptions of women, victims, and the violence itself. I have begun to blog about some of the literature and studies I reviewed for my research here:
http://scienceblogs.com/framing-science/2009/06/effects_of_pornography_on_perc.php

I believe that until people — and society in general — have the same reaction to rape as they have to taking a life, these video games should not become a part of everyday life.

In my work with http://www.adiosbarbie.com I try to raise awareness around how media messages (in TV, film, online, in Ads, and in video games) have impact on how we not only view ourselves, but how others treat us.

The military doesn’t use video games to simulate combat for nothing! Just like guns and porn, these games should be more strictly regulated.

Agree with author on some fronts, especially that there needs to be more education about how awful rape is and would add that people are suprisingly ignorant about how horrible torture is.

Julia,
Thanks for reminding us that this problem is not just here at home but also abroad. If you are interested in reading about AAUW fellow alumnae who have been working on the issues surrounding women’s rights internationally, I would recommend reading the profiles of Maria Herminia Graterol and Florence Adong. These can be accessed through the AAUW Blog at http://blog-aauw.org/category/fellowships-grants-and-awards/.

Holly,
The example you addressed on your blog of the Japanese Train Cafe is just one distressing example of Julia’s point about sexual assault on an international level. Thanks for the work you do through your site and the blog to raise awareness about street harassment!

About the discussion between the boys and girls, I would like to think it was a very powerful and moving experience for everyone in the room, an experience made possible only through the creation of a trusting and safe environment where the students felt comfortable in speaking out. The one sign for me that the message might have hit home was that eventually even the boys on the other side began to open up about their experiences both as victims and perpetrators of sexual assault. The one thing I found really discouraging is that the morning after the majority of the girls who had brought up their experiences were not comfortable reporting what had happened to them.

My reasoning includes, but is not limited to:

* I would of course discourage people from taking light of a game about sexual violence (such as RapeLay), but an all-out ban would violate our call for free speech. It’s the same thing with hate-speech: most civilized people reject it, but fair is fair, and even someone (or something) we find disgusting should have the ability to speak out.

* There is no–I repeat no–significant evidence that playing violent video games encourages violent acts. To suggest otherwise is to deny one’s use of good critical thinking: violent people are more likely to play violent video games; video games don’t create violent people. It’s an issue of correlation, not causation. Therefore, we have no evidence to suggest that playing a sexually violent video game will cause someone to become sexually violent toward a real person.

And if you still aren’t convinced, I’d like you to keep in mind that most of the games U.S. Americans play are developed in Japan (and released there long before they are in the U.S. and the Europe/PAL region). Yet, Japan’s crime rates are significantly lower (to the nth degree) than crime rates here. This is evidence, if not proof, that the issue of violence in video games and real-life violence is one of correlation and not causation.

Again, I want to make it clear that I’m sensitive to your noble goal: making sexual violence less prevalent in U.S. society. But I cannot, even as a woman, agree with your logic or your implied solution.