Kickstarter Apologizes For Not Removing Pro-Sexual Assault 'Seduction Guide'

Kickstarter apologized on Friday for not removing a “seduction guide” project from its site, even though the project in question advocates for sexual violence against women.

Along with taking down the project, titled “Above the Game: A Guide to Getting Awesome With Women,” Kickstater announced it will prohibit all “‘seduction guides, or anything similar, effective immediately.”  The company will also donate $25,000 to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, an anti-sexual violence organization. Since the project surpassed its funding target, Kickstarter said it “missed the window” to take back the $16,369 raised for the pro-rape project.

Kickstarter came under fire Wednesday fromseveralwriters after standup comedian Casey Malone revealed objectionable materials in “Above the Game,” as excerpted by the author Ken Hoinsky on Reddit. Malone found that Hoinsky’s guide essentially instructs men to sexually assault women.  In one passage, he writes, “Physically pick her up and sit her on your lap. Don’t ask for permission. Be dominant. Force her to rebuff your advances.” 

In a blog post, Kickstarter said, “The posts offended a lot of people — us included — and many asked us to cancel the creator’s project. We didn’t. We were wrong.” It cites a small time window and “bias towards creators” as reasons why it didn’t remove the post immediately. The statement goes on to say that the glorification of violence against women found in “Above the Game” violates the company’s terms of service.