RapeLay nonsense continues: Teen victim gets involved

Despite the fact that everyone was done and dusted with last year’s RapeLay controversy — in which some women discovered the obscure Japanese game and made a conscious decision to get offended — the game is still getting loads of free publicity from people who allegedly want it banned. The latest to give RapeLay a spotlight is 14-year-old Elena Lyons, who has spoken out against the game. 

Now, there’s no light to be made of Lyons’ experience. She was sexually assaulted at the age of eight, and obviously a game like RapeLay has hit home. However, digging up the dead issue and contacting her local news service perhaps wasn’t the best way to ensure that people stop checking out the game. 

“This game is wrong,” argues Lyons. “It needs to be stopped.  No game like this should ever be put out there. Rape is not a joke.  People seem to think that it is.  They don’t take it seriously, but rape isn’t a joke. It is very hurtful.”

The funny thing is, RapeLay essentially was stopped. Nobody sells it officially in the US and Japan pulled it from shelves. All Lyons is doing is shedding more light on a game that people had forgotten, which is all anybody does when they demand for something to be banned. I’ve already defended RapeLay’s right to exist, but if you really don’t want it to continue, you ought not to give it the oxygen of publicity. 

You should also remember that just because you have been personally affected by or simply don’t like the subject matter of a piece of entertainment, that doesn’t mean it ought to be banned. 

RapeLay Coverage Hits Home for Teen Girl [GamePolitics]