Maroon 5 have been heavily criticised for their "Animals" music video, with support groups claiming it promotes violence against women.

In the video, frontman Adam Levine's wife, Victoria's Secret supermodel Behati Prinsloo, is stalked by his sinister character, a sociopathic butcher who takes secret photos of her and stores them in his meat locker.

At one point, he breaks into her apartment and lies beside her while she sleeps.

Smeared in meat blood, Levine fantasises about having sex with the blonde-haired Prinsloo before approaching her in a club and creepily touching her shoulder. Then there are explicit blood-soaked sex scenes.

Unsurprisingly, sexual assault support groups are enraged by both the track and its video, with RAINN (Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network) releasing a statement of concern over the "dangerous depiction of a stalker’s fantasy" in "Animals".

"No one should ever confuse the criminal act of stalking with romance," it reads. "The trivialisation of these serious crimes, like stalking, should have no place in the entertainment industry."

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center also attacked the video, which they say depicts Levine treating his own wife like a piece of meat, according to TMZ.

A still from Maroon 5's shocking 'Animals' music video (Maroon 5)

Lyrics to "Animals", which has more in common with Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" than the usual Maroon 5 affair, include "Baby I’m preying on you tonight/ Hunt you down eat you alive" and "Don't deny the animal that comes alive when I'm inside you".

The song's message seems clear – that sexual predators have a natural, "animal" lust for women that they are biologically unable to control.

Fans took to social media to express their disgust after the video was released on Monday, with one Twitter user writing that "the idea of millions of little girls seeing it is disturbing and gross".

On Friday, a voluntary scheme will see music videos get film-style age ratings in a new pilot to protect children from unsuitable content. The move comes in the wake of growing concerns about the sexualised content of music videos.

Maroon 5 are yet to respond to the complaints, but Levine told Access Hollywood last month that his "crazy idea" for the video was "really dark and weird and cool".