Latest news with #CollectiveShout
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
The shocking games your KIDS are playing - as an urgent warning is issued to every parent
Australian parents are being warned that children have access to hundreds of online games that simulate and encourage horrifying scenarios including rape, incest and child sex abuse. When searching the word 'rape' on popular gaming platform Steam, at least 232 results matched the search, campaign group Collective Shout revealed. On the same day, a search for 'incest' turned up 149 results. The game titles are the stuff of parents' nightmares, from 'Incest DEMO' and 'Incest Twins', to virtual reality 'Reincarnation in another world going to rape'. The latter allowed players to explore a virtual 'town' raping all the women who are non–player characters (NPCs) – avatars who are not controlled by a player. Another game allowed players to 'set up' hidden surveillance at a female neighbour's home to secretly record her sexual acts. Graphic imagery, which has been seen by Daily Mail but is too disturbing to publish, included violent sexual torture of women and children, including incest-related abuse. Kelly Humphries, who lives in central Queensland, is a survivor of familial child sexual abuse and has shared her horror at the games. 'There's not a lot that surprises me anymore but this was shocking,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I look at that research and I'm just so ashamed, angry and frustrated because I don't understand why this behaviour is acceptable for big companies.' Ms Humphries has worked in law enforcement and is an activist raising awareness about abuse, including as an ambassador for Collective Shout. 'To see this violence depicted in such a horrific, brazen and humiliating way pushes survivors back into themselves,' she said. 'It completely undermines their experiences by gamifying and almost making fun of their true experience.' Ms Humphries said the games will take a psychological toll on players, particularly on young people who interact online more often than older generations. '(The games) are normalising this behaviour,' she said. '(Young people) are either going to act out that behaviour or they're going to be a victim and suffer silently.' This was echoed by University of New South Wales' Professor Michael Salter, who said the games are 'part of subcultures online that normalise sexual abuse'. Professor Salter, who is also director of the East Asia and Pacific branch of Childlight, said the content will reinforce the acceptability of violence for children or people with problematic behaviour if they play the games. He said that, while the games breach national laws, platforms like Steam and operate internationally and as such, do not follow Australian standards. Both Ms Humphries and Professor Salter signed an open letter to companies including PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, and Paysafe Limited, to request they cease processing payments for gaming platforms which host rape, incest and child sexual abuse–themed games. Professor Salter said there are no rules in international law to manage the issue so 'payment services effectively become a de facto regulator'. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Valve Corporation, which operates Steam, and the platform which is also named in the open letter, regarding the claims. Valve is understood to have changed its rules earlier this week, adding a clause prohibiting content that broke rules set out by payment processors including 'adult content'. There were initially 14 clauses which banned content including hate speech, malware, sexual content of real people or exploitation of children, Automaton Media reported. But a new 15th clause has outlawed 'content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam's payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers. In particular, certain kinds of adult-only content.' The database Steam DB also noted on Tuesday a 'large number of games have been removed from the platform in the past 16 hours'. 'Judging from the list, it appears "sex simulator" type games with keywords such as "incest" and "slavery" make up the majority,' it said. Daily Mail Australia has also contacted the payment services named in the open letter for comment. Spokespeople for PayPal and Mastercard both emphasised their companies have a 'zero tolerance' policy for illegal activity on their networks. Mastercard and the provider Paysafe have said they are investigating concerns that have been raised. Visa reponded with directions to a page on its website about protecting those who use its network. Professor Salter has also raised concerns about discoveries by his team which noticed people breaching others' boundaries on new technology platforms. 'Gaming services often forge ahead with designs without building in safety,' he said. '(On virtual reality platforms), we see kids adopt avatars that are highly sexualised adult avatars and then interact with actual adults.' He said the issue comes down to regulation and the need for clear, enforceable content rules to protect children, adding that parents can take action at home too. 'It's important to have discussions with kids about the gaming services they are on and the content they are seeing,' he said. 'It's not as easy as monitoring games so parents should set clear rules about types of games they are permitted to play and the types they are not allowed to play.' Another suggestion was that parents explain to children that their behaviour online matters and speaks to their character. 'There is a pervasive view that online behaviour is not real, that it is not serious,' he said. 'So it licenses a range of behaviours that are antisocial and transgressive.'
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
400 video games with rape, incest, child abuse pulled from Steam
More than 400 games depicting rape, incest and child abuse have been pulled off of a gaming platform after an Australian non-profit called on payment processors to cut ties. Collective Shout, an Australian non-profit that fights the sexualisation of women and girls, shared an open letter on Monday calling on payment processors to cease ties with gaming platforms such as Steam. Steam, a digital storefront for gaming owned by American company Valve Corporation, was hosting close to 500 games that depicted rape, incest and child abuse material. MasterCard, PayPal, Visa, Paysafe Limited and Discover were some of the payment processors named in the open letter. 'A Collective Shout team member has conducted extensive research using a Steam account set up for this purpose. She has documented content including violent sexual torture of women, and children including incest related abuse involving family members,' the open letter read. 'These games endorsing men's sexualised abuse and torture of women and girls fly in the face of efforts to address violence against women. We do not see how facilitating payment transactions and deriving financial benefit from these violent and unethical games, is consistent with your corporate values and mission statements. 'We request that you demonstrate corporate social responsibility and immediately cease processing payments on Steam and any other platforms hosting similar games.' Melinda Tankard Reist, the movement director of Collective Shout, told the push came after she appeared on a television show in the UK to discuss the game No Mercy — a game where players assumed a persona of a man who sexually assaulted women as a punishment for his mother's infidelity — that Collective Shout had gotten pulled off of Steam in April. 'The reporter mentioned she'd come across other related games so we did a deeper search and discovered almost 500,' Ms Tankard Reist said. 'These games features rape, sexual violation and extreme torture of women and girls. They also include incest-themes. Players can rape vast numbers of women including family members. Women are represented as deserving of punishment. 'The game descriptions are open about 'scenes of non-consensual sexual activity' and 'Sexual scenes with a woman during conversation or while sleeping'. 'In one game 'men abduct women, hold them hostage and rape and sexually torture them'. 'Another says 'The captured women will be violated every day … They will not stop. There is no human rights at all'.' Following the recent action, there are now 27 incest games and 55 rape themed games remaining on Steam. Steam has also updated its rules on what content can be published on the service. In addition to sexually explicit images of real people, defamatory statements and content that exploits children, a new clause reads; 'Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam's payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers. In particular, certain kinds of adult only content.' has contacted the Valve Corporation for comment multiple times. When first approached on the topic, a MasterCard spokesperson told 'We have zero tolerance for illegal activity on our network. When specific instances of potentially unlawful or illegal activity are identified, we investigate the allegations so that the appropriate action can be taken. 'We have not received the evidence or materials noted in the letter but will investigate the claims upon receipt.' understands that Steam does not directly connect to the MasterCard network but use 'acquirers' as intermediaries. Acquirers are responsible for conducting due diligence on customers. PayPal and Paysafe gave similar comments to with the latter stating it was investigating concerns that were raised. Since Collective Shout's open letter, the organisation has been inundated with abusive commentary online — including rape and death threats. Some went so far to call Collective Shout's act a 'declaration of war'.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Controversial mural sparks wave of complaints as business faces fine
A confronting mural showing a bound and gagged woman has sparked outrage, with a Melbourne council receiving over 1,000 complaints in just two days. Los Angeles-based street artist Lauren YS was commissioned to paint the mural on a building near Cecil Street in the hip inner city suburb of Fitzroy. But City of Yarra mayor Stephen Jolly said the mural had broken planning laws and the business behind the mural would be fined as result. 'They don't have a planning permit, they'll be approached about that, they'll be dealt with in the normal way,' Mayor Jolly told ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast. He said the council had received more than 1,000 emails in the last 48 hours from local residents as well as interested parties from around the country. Collective Shout, an NGO against domestic violence and sexual exploitation of women, led a campaign against the mural, but many locals backed the artwork. 'I don't know if sexualised images in front of children's faces is a good way of stirring controversy,' one man told ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast. However, another man said: 'I think it's representing a culture that a lot of people don't know about, shibari (Japanese rope bondage) is a beautiful artform that brings intimacy in people.' Lauran YS said in a statement the work was 'about empowerment and queer selfhood'. The artist said the location was chosen to avoid foot traffic and claimed there was a much higher trafficked street close by 'with synthetic boobs in the window'. The mural was shared by the artist on Instagram, stating the piece was a 'parting gift for Melbourne/for the dolls'. In a statement shared on social media, Collective Shout said the artwork 'eroticised violence against women'. Movement director Melinda Reist said: 'This is porn-themed, adult sexual fetishes imposed on a non-consenting audience. 'It depicts the public humiliation of women at a time when we're expressing concern from rising rates of violence against women.' Yarra Residents' Collective spokesman Adam Promnitz agreed: 'While that artwork may be great in a private space, in the street it is the wrong time and wrong place. 'Families and members of the public should not be subject to X-rated artwork without consent.' The mural has subsequently been defaced by another graffiti artist.
Sydney Morning Herald
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Fitzroy bondage mural outrages activist group, but its defacing upsets admirers
A Fitzroy mural depicting a woman in bondage has been defaced almost as soon as it became enshrouded in controversy, prompting frustration from onlookers who travelled to admire it. The 15-metre wide work, on a building in a quiet bluestone laneway, became the subject of outrage when activist group Collective Shout started a campaign to have it removed and argued it glamorised violence against women. The campaign launched on the weekend and led to Yarra City Council being flooded with more than 1000 complaints, many of which were identical in format. The council has yet to step in, but the majority of the work, by Los Angeles-based artist Lauren YS, has now been painted over with tags. The mural is on the rear of a nondescript commercial property, where no one answered on Monday. Lauren YS said on Instagram they'd named the work Kinbakubi, which translates literally from Japanese to 'the beauty of tight binding'. The artist said it was 'a parting gift for Melbourne' that they were commissioned to paint at a photo studio. On Monday, the handful of people to walk by the laneway during the hour The Age was there had come specifically to see the artwork. Most were saddened to see it ruined. Some pointed out it location, which is just a few minutes' walk from the Lucrezia & De Sade fetish store and sex shop Passionfruit, both in Brunswick Street. Magenta Chello, from Ballarat, arrived with her partner to admire the depiction of the bound and gagged woman as active members of the kink community. She said the painting was 'absolutely beautiful'.
The Age
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Fitzroy bondage mural outrages activist group, but its defacing upsets admirers
A Fitzroy mural depicting a woman in bondage has been defaced almost as soon as it became enshrouded in controversy, prompting frustration from onlookers who travelled to admire it. The 15-metre wide work, on a building in a quiet bluestone laneway, became the subject of outrage when activist group Collective Shout started a campaign to have it removed and argued it glamorised violence against women. The campaign launched on the weekend and led to Yarra City Council being flooded with more than 1000 complaints, many of which were identical in format. The council has yet to step in, but the majority of the work, by Los Angeles-based artist Lauren YS, has now been painted over with tags. The mural is on the rear of a nondescript commercial property, where no one answered on Monday. Lauren YS said on Instagram they'd named the work Kinbakubi, which translates literally from Japanese to 'the beauty of tight binding'. The artist said it was 'a parting gift for Melbourne' that they were commissioned to paint at a photo studio. On Monday, the handful of people to walk by the laneway during the hour The Age was there had come specifically to see the artwork. Most were saddened to see it ruined. Some pointed out it location, which is just a few minutes' walk from the Lucrezia & De Sade fetish store and sex shop Passionfruit, both in Brunswick Street. Magenta Chello, from Ballarat, arrived with her partner to admire the depiction of the bound and gagged woman as active members of the kink community. She said the painting was 'absolutely beautiful'.
