understood, i think.
and if i remember correctly, it's only the various gang members, cops, fbi and random criminals that fight back. i think it's possible to abuse male npc's who will remain passive. there is certainly an infamous torture scene where both men and women npc's are abusing an innocent male victim. that is part of the main story arc. and the player is forced to participate in the torture, the only choice being which "weapon" they use on the guy.
it's uncomfortable to watch, and intended to be so. especially as the characters instigating the torture are white cops and or fbi, and the innocent guy is non white.
also one of the main playable antiheroes is a methamphetamine addict and drug dealer, a cannibal, and possibly male rapist, if i remember correctly. and he frequently abuses, in one way or other, all the people who work with him, and they are all male. he even kills some of his former associates.
it might not sound at all funny, but his character is so over the top, and yet very well acted, and he's one of the best characters i've ever seen in any video game. i just would not want to ever meet someone like that in real life. but that's the point. in the same context i'm a fan of zombie movies and games, but i wouldn't want to ever witness a real life zombie eating someone, especially as i'm a vegetarian.
the gta series explore some of the limits of human depravity. are they meant to be entertaining? definitely. are they meant to teach people how to act in real life, absolutely not. at least i doubt any of the hundreds of men and women devs who work on those games would want gamers to think of them as simulators to practice real life crimes in.
if i had young kids, there is no way i would want them playing gta, but then i wouldn't want them having access to **** either. however, for adults that understand the context of these games, i see no reason why those adults shouldn't be able to experience them, either directly or watching other gamers play them, as millions of people are doing so on youtube and in each other's homes, all around the world.
what i do think should happen though, is youtube should have age gates. so kids have some barrier between them and content like this. but that is not likely to happen since google care more about ad revenue regardless of viewer age, then they do about limiting violent and highly suggestive content to kids, that may not be developed enough to understand the context.