The Hunting Ground: Sexual Assault on College Campuses

For most of my teenage life, I was always told to always be aware of my surroundings, and always be cautious of anyone you don't know. Coming from a suburban town, I never felt like I was in danger at any point. College is different; I have never felt unsafe on this campus which is very lucky, but there is always a chance that something could change in an instant.

The other day, I finally got around to watching this documentary called The Hunting Ground, a documentary on Netflix about college campus sexual assault and the schools' inability to take action and get justice for the victim. My mom has been begging me to watch this for months, and I just wasn't interested at all. However, recently in another class of mine we discussed briefly sexual assault on campus and it inspired me to watch. Needless to say it was the most shocking and captivating documentary I have watched. 

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The documentary covers all sorts of ground about sexual assault on college campuses, and begins with showing the aspects of college we all remember from the beginning; getting acceptance letters, hearing the president and professors speak, and moving into the dorms. Girls and boys in the movie begin to describe their college experiences leading up to their attacks; while their assaults are obviously horrible, the treatment they receive after is the worst part. Only ten percent of sexual assaults and rapes that occur in college are reported, therefore it takes a lot of courage for victims to even talk about it. After reporting the incident to campus police or administration, many of these cases are simply put on the back burner, never to be looked at again. Many of the victims are blamed for their actions, being told they drank too much or led them on. The effects of sexual assault take a large toll on the victims, especially when they are treated like it doesn't matter. This is because the school's main concern is to keep students applying, and if that school has a history of sexual violence on campus, the applicants will diminish over time. It also matters when it comes to situations involving fraternities and athletic teams because of the amount of money and publicity they bring to the school. 

One of the specific cases in the documentary was about a girl that was raped by a Notre Dame football player, and ended up committing suicide because the stress and anxiety of the whole situation became too overwhelming when she realized he was going to get away with it. Another girl was raped at Florida State by another football player, and although they had DNA evidence to convict him, the prosecution never did. Although they never officially said why this happened, its quite obvious; convicting the star football player would take a major toll on the school. Because this assault involved this athlete, the whole school knew about it, and no one believed her. The detective assigned to the crime told her "This is a big football town, think long and hard if you really want to press charges." The backlash of this event was so big that she ended up dropping out of school because of bullying, and the students actually celebrated, still convinced that she was lying. People felt bad for the football player, because it was "harming his opportunities". Now he is currently playing the NFL, even when there are numerous amounts of evidence proving he is the attacker. 

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This process that those assaulted have to go through is bad enough, especially when the institution meant to support and help its students doesn't take them seriously. Many of these students suffer afterwards with depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, and many other related issues. In the documentary, a few of the girls mentioned that they self harmed, couldn't attend classes anymore, couldn't sleep, or even tried to commit suicide. Their lives have been ruined; for some, they get back on their feet, begin advocating for change like some girls in the movie do, but others can't continue in college because it has been robbed of them. Their safety and trust in the school has been compromised, by the attacker and by the institution itself. 

Sexual assault on college campuses is something that many of us know is an issue, but something that is less known is how it is handled afterwards. This documentary completed shocked me, as I had no idea how bad really was. Universities put crime statistics as a priority before the justice and well being of the survivors, and it is still being done to this day. You may think that your school, that Penn State is a safe school that doesn't ever have issues with sexual assault; because of the level of reporting mixed with the way it is handled, it seems like nothing happens. There are so many unanswered questions regarding this nationwide epidemic, and while it is far fetched to think we can stop sexual assault all together, we can change the ways it is handled. 

What do you guys think about this issue? Please comment how you feel about it or how you think it should be approached. 

The Hunting Ground