Hunting Ground Cultural Issues
The Hunting Ground, directed by Kirby Dick, has expressed many college students who have been raped on college campus face retaliation and harassment as they fight for justice. On college campuses across the nation, more and more victims are stepping forward towards the authorities reporting their incident of sexual assault. Still, only a few assaults are reported leaving the offender to roam freely and attack their next victims. We also see very few cases investigated properly and most on the less end perpetuators actually even getting convicted. The perpetrators frequently use alcohol and drugs to get women in a different state as a means to coerce them into having sex, and some simply uses force on them. The
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Women need to be aware that this is a problem not just on college campuses, but everywhere and they can be someone’s next victim. In Lydia O’Connor’s article If You Don’t Get Why Campus Rape Is A National Problem, Read This, she claims around 1 in 5 women may experience sexual assault in college. This statistic is alarming because women have a 20% chance of being raped during college. Before watching the film, I had no idea about this statistic and I asked my other classmates if they have heard about sexual assault being an epidemic on college campuses, but they had no idea either. Being aware is important and we need to change college campus culture. Advertise and post posters around campus that state boldly the statistics of sexual assaults. We need college campuses to change their culture because according to Susan Svrluga article How to prevent campus sexual assaults? states, “At one school, men numerically ranked first-year students based on whether they would be good candidates for sexual encounters. At other campuses, when new students arrived this fall, fraternities had signs saying the equivalent of “drop your daughters off here.” If men watch the documentary and learn about sexual assault before they get on campus, then they possibly will not do it because they see the effects it had on the women who were sexually assaulted. Also, if we put posters around campus stating, “82 percent of students don’t want to date someone who thinks unwanted sexual contact is acceptable”. This can also help college
When university or police find out about the sexual assault, they immediately blame the victim or question what the victim was wearing, drinking, or doing. “Brownmiller identified four basic rape myths: (1) All women want to be raped; (2) a woman cannot be raped against her will; (3) a woman who is raped is asking for it; and (4) if a woman is going to be raped, she might as well enjoy it” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 432). In The Hunting Ground, the rape myth, which a woman who is raped is asking for it, is seen throughout the testimonies of the survivors. Clark, herself, was told by her dean that “rape is like a football game” and asked if “looking back, what would you have done differently?” (Ziering & Dick, 2015). These rape myths affect how many victims actually report and how seriously sexual assaults are taken within universities and the justice system. For example, some women, themselves, subscribe to rape myths because they see how current cases are handled. “Women who did not physically fight off the person who raped them and who subscribed to the rape myth that “it can’t be rape if a woman doesn’t fight back” were less likely to acknowledge that they had been raped” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 434). Universities need to teach first-year students about consent and how to
The trial of 19 year old Owen Laurie has brought into light the alarming rate in which Sexual assault is rising. The issue that rages on in Colleges is said to be making its way to high schools and primary school. In a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Division of Violence Prevention, 19% of Undergraduate women experienced
The Hunting Ground, directed by Kirby Dick was a great eye opener and was amazing to watch to get a realistic view of what goes on throughout college campuses. As the film continued on following the lives of several undergrad students who had been sexually assaulted it got me to think, why? Even after watching it twice I still was in shock by the endless amounts of victim blaming these prestige’s schools were putting on their students.
Rape is currently on the rise on American college campuses and it is the most common committed crime among college students today. In their time in college 1 out of every 5 women and 1 out of every 71 men will experience some form of sexual harassment as reported by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. These numbers are growing each year and have raised a lot of concern in the administrative level of higher education institutions. In an effort to try and prevent these occurrences universities have begun to implement mandatory curriculum to educate students on the subject and have even begun to hold campus wide events and create clubs to spread awareness and show support because of the repetitive nature of this crime. While it is good
When it comes to sexual assault on college campuses there is also the question of what can colleges do to decrease the amount of sexual assaults. Bradford Richardson and Jon A Shields wondered the same thing, so they conducted an ...
“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn’t move” (Henneberger, 2012). These are words written by a college freshman after she had been raped, but they are true for many others as well. According to the Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties, “every two minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted” (Get the Facts). “Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the than the general population to be victims of sexual assault” (Get the Facts). These women may be described as slut, cheap, or ready for action, rather than victim, sufferer, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these demeaning terms for women and conceal the reality of rape culture. I will describe the pervasiveness of sexual assault on college campuses as well as the systems and procedures in place to address it. Power plays a role in this issue, including the powerful men on campus such as athletes and fraternity members as well as the administrators in power who regulate the punishments and actions that are taken against the perpetrators. The influence of those in power often goes overlooked in our society because it has become so intertwined with our culture.
The tone is one of excitement and eagerness as the film The Hunting Ground opens up, with graduation music playing and high school seniors opening up their college acceptance letters. As students arrive at college, however, the mood shifts from anticipation to foreboding. The documentary, composed of heart wrenching rape stories and frightening statistics, portrays college as a breeding ground for sexual assaults. By relying heavily on emotional appeal and twisting statistics to support his argument, director Kirby Dick falsely presents college as a hostile institute where the administration sides with the accused instead of the accuser.
With one in five college students experiencing sexual assault during their college career who wouldn’t be afraid? This remains especially true for young women between the ages of 18-24 (“The Realities of Sexual Assault”). While a woman’s freshman and sophomore year of college are when she is at a most risk for assault, it can happen at any time. According to Robin Gray in the article on sexual assault statistics, “between 20% and 25% of women will experience a completed and/or attempted rape during their college career,” (Gray). At Northwest Missouri State University for the 2016-2017 academic year there are 5,618 undergraduate students enrolled. With the ratio of male to female students being 44% to 56%, there are about 3,147 female students. In terms of the statistics estimated by Gray, 630-787 of the female student population at Northwest Missouri State will experience rape during their college career (“Northwest Missouri State University”). This is a disturbingly large figure. Women are not the only ones susceptible to these acts, but men are too. It is said about “10%” of all sexual assault cases involve male victims (“The Realities of Sexual Assault”). While this number is slightly lower for men it is often believed that male victims of sexual assault do not often report their crime due to the social stigma surrounding their assault. Men may feel
Have you ever been encountered in a circumstance of being raped or knew an individual that was a victim of rape? Every one-hundred and seven seconds an American is sexually assaulted (RAINN). Rape has become a continuous problem causing controversy due to the way colleges cover up or simply hide incidents of rape throughout campus. More college students are also being raped by their own acquaintances rather than random strangers. Students, parents, and politicians question the way schools protect students and how their campuses can become more effective and efficient in preventing further occurrences of rape. Over the past years there has been a series of incidents where rape has been an extreme problem on college campuses in America that have been kept quiet until something traumatic happens. The prevalence of rapes on college campuses is continuing to rise due to lack of security, surveillance and awareness.
According to Kathleen Hirsch, the author of “Fraternities of Fear: Gang Rape, Male Bonding, and the Silencing of Women” 1 in every 4 women attending college will be the victim of sexual assault at some point during her academic career. Or in another study reported in the “The sexual Victimization of College Women” there are 35.3 incidents of sexual assault in a group of 1,000 women in a time span of 6.91 months (Statistics). Obviously sexual assault is a huge problem that should be taken very seriously. Some colleges have wonderful programs put in place that provides great services to help those students who have been have been sexually assaulted and programs that help education and prevent sexual assault.
1 in 5 women will get sexual assaulted on a college campus. This is absolutely sickening and needs to be taking care of before it gets out of hand. The more and more I have a conversation about sexual assault the more it makes me want to take charge and do something about it. Now that I have the information from listening to our speaker, I defiantly see college parties in a different light. I always see guys trying to take girls back to their room or isolating them from the group. Whenever I’m at a party, I never think of the awful things that could be happening around me. I definitely unaware of situations so now I’ll defiantly be more involved and step in when it’s appropriate. It’s a very common thing to see at a party so for myself I never
In this research paper, we will evaluate how sexual assault is handled on a college campus. What system is used and how does it
According to a statement addressing the sexual victimization of college women The Crime and Victimization in America states that, “ One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.” This disturbing fact has not minimized throughout the years, instead it is continuing to worsen throughout college campuses. Sexual assault is not an act to be taken lightly. Society must stop pinpointing the individuals who commit these crimes one by one, but rather look at the problem as a whole and begin to understand the main cause of sexual assault and possible methods to reduce these acts of sexual coercion.
A survey from the Association of American Universities of 150,000 students found that more than one in four women experience sexual assault during their four years in college. Over the four year college period, 27.2% of female students are victims of unwanted sexual contact that ranges from touching to rape (6). Sexual assault is far too common and it is an epidemic that faces many students in college. Many students suffer from the consequences of sexual assault, which is a result of many social and cultural deficiencies, but it can be fixed through a multifaceted approach. The problem of sexual assault can be fixed through the education of the community, a positive and helpful school environment, and classes focused on prevention.
Since sexual assault is a big deal and very important and people need to be more aware about it and how young ladies are affected by it. Did you know, “The most recent reports show that 16 forcible sexual assaults were reported at Yale University in 2012, 13 such assaults at UConn and 12 at Connecticut College the same year? In 2011, Yale reported 18 forcible sexual assaults, UConn reported eight and Connecticut College reported four” (Yale, UConn and Connecticut College Have Most Sexual Assaults in State, Reports Show)? One of the reasons I support sexual assault getting noticed on college campuses is because every female or male should feel safe no matter what. If a female or male was sexually assaulted they should feel safe enough to go to someone and tell them what happen and