The Hunting Ground documentary film sparked awareness to the plague of sexual assault across American college campuses. This film displayed American universities’ blatant disregard for upholding national (Title IX) terms of student safety. Moreover, it revealed several student’s adamant struggle to eradicate the disgusting epidemic of rape culture and school official’s systematic intention to silence victims on college campuses. Though the statistics of sexual assault were horrendous enough, I was most disturbed by the victim’s personal testimonies. It was extremely disheartening to hear the victim’s experiences of despair, and their stories of being blamed and shamed for crimes they did not commit. It was extremely discouraging to listen
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All in all, The Hunting Ground, served as a catalytic amplifier for sexual assault victim’s suppressed voices to evoke change. Considering the victimizing nature of sexual assault, on one hand, the women in this film were portrayed as grief stricken, helpless, and invisible. On the other hand, as they sought to overcome oppression – they were portrayed as tenacious survivors, activists, and victors. Indeed, sexual assault inflictions alone pose detriments to one’s psychological, physical, and emotional health. However, another layer of torment was added to victims of abuse on college campuses. Granted that the Title IX portion of the United States Education Amendment of 1972 calls colleges/universities to eliminate hostile environments, investigate and report cases of sexual assault, resolve issues, and prevent recurrence of issues – the fact that some colleges did not do those things further exacerbated the …show more content…
Mary’s University loss their sense of direction in life. However, after the initial shock and hurt, survivors Andrea Pino and Annie Clark encouraged women (and men) to reinstate their pain as a movement to end sexual violence and prompt a greater concern for college’s adherences to Title IX. Majority of the victims displayed in the documentary, did not express malice or ugly revenge upon their assailants or college administrators for blatant neglectfulness. However, it was very clear that they desired justice and to end the cycle of abuse on college campuses. Specifically, Pino and Clark’s pain turned activism reminded me of Jean Zaru’s idea that, “the peculiar strength of nonviolence comes from the dual nature of its approach: the offering of respect and concern on one hand, while meeting injustice with noncooperation and defiance, on the other.” This is demonstrated as the students’ participation in this documentary sparks change and expresses the issues of sexual violence on college campuses without being vicious to their perpetrators, but also not being passive and allowing
All in all, The Hunting Ground, served as a catalytic amplifier for sexual assault victim’s suppressed voices to evoke change. Considering the victimizing nature of sexual assault, on one hand, the women in this film were portrayed as grief stricken, helpless, and invisible. On the other hand, as they sought to overcome oppression – they were portrayed as tenacious survivors, activists, and victors. Indeed, sexual assault inflictions alone pose detriments to one’s psychological, physical, and emotional health. However, another layer of torment was added to victims of abuse on college campuses. Granted that the Title IX portion of the United States Education Amendment of 1972 calls colleges/universities to eliminate hostile environments, investigate and report cases of sexual assault, resolve issues, and prevent recurrence of issues – the fact that some colleges did not do those things further exacerbated the …show more content…
Mary’s University loss their sense of direction in life. However, after the initial shock and hurt, survivors Andrea Pino and Annie Clark encouraged women (and men) to reinstate their pain as a movement to end sexual violence and prompt a greater concern for college’s adherences to Title IX. Majority of the victims displayed in the documentary, did not express malice or ugly revenge upon their assailants or college administrators for blatant neglectfulness. However, it was very clear that they desired justice and to end the cycle of abuse on college campuses. Specifically, Pino and Clark’s pain turned activism reminded me of Jean Zaru’s idea that, “the peculiar strength of nonviolence comes from the dual nature of its approach: the offering of respect and concern on one hand, while meeting injustice with noncooperation and defiance, on the other.” This is demonstrated as the students’ participation in this documentary sparks change and expresses the issues of sexual violence on college campuses without being vicious to their perpetrators, but also not being passive and allowing