In honor of April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month, I feel that it is important for individuals, especially college students, to see or at least be aware of an amazing documentary currently available to watch on Netflix titled, “The Hunting Ground.” The documentary was written and directed by Academy Award-nominated and two-time Emmy Award-winning film director Kirby Dick. “The Hunting Ground” succeeded in breaking the silence on a topic that many have done their best to sweep under the rug: sexual assault on college campuses. Here is a list of reasons why you should watch “The Hunting Ground” like, yesterday:
1. It gives a voice to the unheard
A significant amount of sexual assault occurrences that take place on college campuses go unreported. This is because many victims, for various reasons, find it too difficult to come forward to anyone about what they experienced in their assault. It is so crucial for these silent victims to know that they are not alone in their struggles and that they have an unimaginably huge support system of others who can relate or simply want to help.
2. The knowledge you’ll gain will not only be eye opening, it will be downright terrifying
Throughout the documentary, you will find yourself learning information and hearing statistics that will seem too unbelievable to be true. The thought that you or someone you know could be in the same position as the sexual assault survivors in the documentary is extremely important because it encourages more people to stand behind the cause to spread awareness in order to lower the amount of incidences and to seek justice for victims.
3. You hear EVERY side of the story
“The Hunting Ground” follows the stories of not only the victims of sexual assault, but it also includes interviews with school administrators, campus security, parents of victims and most surprisingly—actual (anonymous) perpetrators.
4. It breaks social boundaries
My favorite part of this entire documentary is its bravery. It fearlessly names specific incidents that have taken place at well-known and even Ivy League universities that have done their best to pretend that sexual assault is not at all an issue on their campuses (when in fact, it is an issue on ALL campuses). Even further, it exposes real perpetrators, specifically certain star athletes, who were never truly brought to justice for their actions.
The importance of this documentary goes beyond the words I’m sharing. “The Hunting Ground” does an excellent job of spreading awareness of sexual assault on college campuses and I do believe every college student should take the time to watch it. #ItsOnUsQU