Inequality in Sexual Violence

Inequality in Sexual Violence 

I recently watched a film entitled The Hunting Ground. The film goes over the extreme problem of sexual assault and rape on college campuses across the United States. It talks about how allegations of rape and sexual assault are handled by colleges as well as the large discrepancies in help for those victims that say their assailant is a prominent student-athlete at the college they attend. The problems reported throughout the film go into how and why many students do not report their assault and what happens when they do, including administration not believing them, telling them it was their fault for various reasons, and not wanting to tarnish the reputation of their school and subsequent funding by pressing charges and having the cases publicized. Now, I knew that this was a big problem but until I saw the numbers of how many rapes get reported vs how many assailants actually get expelled or have charges pressed against them was shocking and disgusting, I had no idea how many of these cases get swept under the rug to uphold a schools reputation.

This film reminded me in many ways of the problems we see when someone launches a sexual assault case against a celebrity or politician in the way the victims are either blamed for the assault or saying that the assailant is the victim of a false claim, as well as the power that these people have to keep themselves safe against any lawsuits that get thrown at them, for example, the Kavanaugh case. The victim in his case was bullied relentlessly by those that didn't want to believe someone with so much power could have done such a thing. The same goes for the women in the film, one woman bullied so persistently for her claim that she had been raped by a star football player she had to leave her school, another felt so hopeless that she took her own life. The film also deals with men that have been sexually assaulted and the problems they encounter with reporting, this dealing mainly with the enormous premise and pressure of masculinity we have in this country. The claims are usually met with questions like why didn't you fight back or how could you have let this happen to you, this is if the men even report their case at all.

I think this film does a wonderful job showing the problems of inequality when it comes to sexual assault, in an almost backward fashion there seems to be a pattern of taking care of and rallying around the accused than the victim that experiences the assault. The film uses real statistics as well as a multitude of first-hand accounts of victims telling their story, which I believe is the most effective way to get the message across. The story told here is so heartwrenching and so important, I think they did this in the best and most respectful way possible. The evidence is sound, they use numbers you can look up for yourself to fact check and present them in a way that is easy to understand and makes their point very clearly.

I would highly recommend this film to anyone especially in regard to understanding inequality when it comes to sexual assault and how it is handled in this country. There is a great misjustice happening for victims of sexual assault and this film lays that out very clearly as well as presenting information on how others have gotten involved in activism for it.


Find out where to watch it here: https://thehuntinggroundaustralia.com.au/about-the-film/