Audrie And Daisy

As reported by RAINN, one out of every six women in America has been the victim of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.1 On Thursday, September 29th, I attended a screening of Audrie & Daisy in the Student Center Auditorium. The documentary tells the stories of Audrie Pott and Daisy Coleman, among other survivors, and their experiences with sexual assault. This film accurately illustrates how regressive society is in dealing with and responding appropriately to sexual assault.
Preceding my viewing of Audrie & Daisy, I was somewhat aware of the scope of the sexual assault problem in the United States. I knew that a disturbingly large number of people, male and female, will have experienced sexual assault in their lifetime. I also knew that oftentimes the perpetrators of these assaults are let off easy or are not held accountable at all, either due to a failure to report the crime, lack of evidence or simply as a result of doubtfulness in the accounts of the victims. I learned these unfortunate truths through various forms of media and news, in school, and online. Of the many things I learned while watching this documentary, the most shocking and

crucial points are how universal the struggles of rape survivors are, how devastating it can be to be the target of these crimes and the prevalence of victim blaming.
Daisy and Audrie come from very different backgrounds and communities. Despite this, their experiences were quite similar. From the nature of their assault, to the attempts by their communities to sweep the events under the rug. Both also struggled with similar pain, including suicidal urges due to what they went through; Audrie tragically took her own life and Daisy attempted to on multiple occasions. The feeling of hopelessness or that one’s life is over, reputation permanently tarnished, seems to be common among survivors. In the documentary, the pervasiveness of victim blaming was showcased plainly. Although I was aware that victim blaming happened, I did not know of how drastic it could be in cases of rape and sexual assault. Particularly in Daisy Coleman’s case, on both a local and national scale, people opportunistically leapt at the chance to berate, threaten and condemn her and invalidate her allegations, despite their lack of certainty regarding the guilt or innocence of the accused. Some of those enraged by Coleman’s case even went as far as to set fire to her home. This repugnant reaction is little but a display of a distressingly common lack of empathy and an epidemic of willful ignorance.
The topic of sexual assault has not been discussed in any of my classes thus far. During the First Four orientation I attended the first week after arriving on campus, I did see two presentations that covered the topic; Yes Means Yes was a presentation dedicated to consent and sexual assault prevention, and another presentation informed us of the procedures involved in dealing with sexual assault on campus as well as what resources are available to victims. Having seen Audrie & Daisy, I believe that I will personally be more cautious and aware of sexual assault and I will have a better understanding of the victims, being more able to sympathize with the pain and hardship they go through.
Audrie & Daisy is an in-depth, graphic portrayal of the hostile and defensive reactions people and society as a whole have toward victims of sexual assault.

In the cases of Audrie and Daisy specifically, as well as a majority of rape or sexual assault victims, the experience and aftermath are seemingly consistently desolating. Rape victims live with indescribable mental and emotional torment, and victim blaming in cases of rape and sexual assault is exceedingly common. Audrie & Daisy is a powerful and informative film that would be beneficial for virtually anyone to watch; more attention needs to be given to these issues, conversations need to be had, understanding needs to be taught in order to eliminate complacency within societies that enable and excuse the disgraceful, grievous acts of rape and sexual

assault.