Australian retailers start pulling GTA 5 from the shelves

AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS have begun to strip their shelves of Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA 5) because of the game's controversial approach to womankind.

Anger over scenes depicting abuse against women have seen the game slip from open shelves to bottom drawers.

The removal kicked off in Australia after a petition calling on retailer Target to withdraw the 'sickening' and misogynistic title attracted over 40,000 signatures.

'This is Grand Theft Auto 5. This game means that after various sex acts, players are given options to kill women by punching her unconscious, killing with a machete, bat or guns to get their money returned,' says the petition.

' Please Target - we appeal to you as women survivors of violence, including women who experienced violence in the sex industry, to immediately withdraw Grand Theft Auto V from sale.'

To hammer home its message that GTA isn't exactly women-friendly, the petition page hosts a clip from the game showing a flaming, screaming lady being shot and then run over by a car, repeatedly.

We asked Rockstar if it wanted to comment and are waiting for its response.

Target said in a statement that while some of its customers like GTA some do not, and as such it will stop retailing it.

'We've been speaking to many customers over recent days about the game, and there is a significant level of concern about the game's content,' said Jim Cooper, Target's GM for corporate affairs.

'We've also had customer feedback in support of us selling the game, and we respect their perspective on the issue... We feel the decision to stop selling GTA 5 is in line with the majority view of our customers.'

The Australian campaign is rolling on, and aims to get the game removed from more stores, including Woolworths. According to reports KMart has also removed the title. µ