‘The Hunting Ground’- Sexual Assault On College Campuses Are Relevant
“The Hunting Ground” documents several cases of campus rape and sexual assault on multiple college campuses including Ivy League schools like Harvard, Yale and Princeton.
The film manages to deliver detailed accounts of what happened to these young women and men while attending college through interviews with the victims themselves, parents, and administrators of the schools mentioned.
The film follows two women from the University of North Carolina, Annie Clark and Andrea Pino as they go up against their school by filing a Title IX anti-discrimination complaint. Clark and Pino work tirelessly to make their voices heard, all the while creating a network for victims to feel safe to come forward and share their survival stories. Seasoned filmmaker Kirby Dick and executive producer Amy Ziering, left no stone unturned by covering sexual assault cases involving, college athletics and fraternities. The filmmakers were adamant about exposing the extent to which these universities will go to protect their reputation.
The film bombards the viewer with figures that are truly nauseating, needless to say, it was effective. The statistics are overwhelming: One in five college women and one in 33 college men will be sexually assaulted during their time on campus.
While watching the film, I felt sick to my stomach. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see how many of these sexual assault cases get swept under the rug, not by a few schools but by hundreds of schools nationwide.
Recently, I was involved in a public service announcement regarding sexual assault, particularly campus rape. It was not until watching The Hunting Ground, did I realize how important this issue is and what activism can do to fuel this matter further.