With the growing presence of the #MeToo movement, and the recent Supreme Court nomination of rapist Brett Kavanaugh, it is important, now more than ever, for everyone to be aware of the sexual assault and rape 1 out of 5 women and 1 out of 10 men on college campuses experience.
In my high school, for senior seminar, every student in the graduating class had to sit in the auditorium and watch the documentary “The Hunting Ground.” No one knew what to expect, except for the fact that it would show some information that may be too much for some people to handle. The documentary opened with girls opening their acceptance letters and being completely ecstatic about getting into their dream schools; unfortunately, this joy felt by the audience for the young women was short-lived once we remembered what this documentary was all about.
“The Hunting Ground” documentary addresses sexual assault and rape on college campuses, particularly towards female students. It didn’t show the incident when a young lady was raped, but showed the aftermath, which many survivors deem the worst part. The women were faced with judgement about their characters and retaliation from the college campuses they trusted to do something. Each story sounded the same: every girl had a family member or friend who didn’t believe them; every girl had to see her attacker on campus grounds; and every girl was told that she didn’t matter. The film also included stories about male survivors, but the statistic for males is far less than that of females.
When the film concluded, you could hear a pin drop in the auditorium of my high school; everyone was silent in disbelief of the harsh realities some of us were going to face the following year. It was hard to watch, especially because the odds of being sexually assaulted at college, for women, are on the rise. It’s a harsh reality, but it is super important for everyone, regardless of gender, to watch this documentary.
It’s on us to change the social and political scene surrounding sexual assault and rape in our society, especially on college campuses.
The Hunting Ground can be found on Netflix and on their website: http://thehuntinggroundfilm.com/