The Hunting Grounds: A Film Analysis

Sexual violence is a significant social and cultural problem within America and all over the world. Within the United States nearly 1 in 5 women – or nearly 22 million – have been raped in their lifetimes. Arrest rates for sexual assault cases are low as they are hard to investigate because of the effects of the trauma itself. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, approximately 12% of the 283,200 annual rape or sexual assault victimizations from year 2005-2010 resulted in an arrest at the scene or during a follow-up investigation. Findings from the same survey revealed that more than one-third of women reported experiencing a sexual assault at some point during their lifetime. Within American society, rape constitutes an experience

The Hunting Ground was a very emotional video that highlights a very important issue in our country that most people are not aware of. When it comes to sexual violence, college campuses are more focused on protecting the attacker rather than the victim. What shocked me the most in this film was that most of the faculty members the victims went to seek help from were females, yet the victims were still blamed for their rape. One administrator from UNC at Chapel Hill told a victim “rape is like a football game” meaning that if you look back to that day, what would you have done differently to prevent the rape. Victims who report rapes to university faculties are often questioned about the clothes they wore that day, how much alcohol they had to drink if they said no to the perpetrator, how many times did they said no, etc. Ryan Clifford, a male victim at the University of California, Davis rather than being helped, he was suggested by a faculty member to drop out of school until the situation “blows over.”

Every 107 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted. Each year, there are about 293,000 victims of sexual assault. Approximately four out of five assaults are committed by someone the victim knows; 47 percent of rapists are an acquaintance or friend. While 68 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police concluding in 98 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail.” If, as a society, we continue to blame victims and refuse to acknowledge the truth of sexual assault we cannot expect rates of sexual violence to improve. People who blame victims believe that if they do certain things - wear the 'right' clothes, don't go out at night, don't get drunk, teach their children about stranger danger - then they'll be safe from sexual assault. We need to give our survivors a fighting chance so they can step forward and speak honestly about their experiences. The more open our conversations about sexuality become, the more people will finally start to accept that rape is a crime and one that no one deserves, or should ever have to

Prosecutors and police officers may be less likely to believe victims if they have no signs of physical abuse like cuts, bruises, or scrapes, or if they have known their attackers for a long time (Hilgenkamp 163). Victims often feel ashamed and humiliated for bringing their experiences forward and become frustrated and furtherly emotionally damaged (Hilgenkamp 163). Dealing with sexual assault cases differently based on the victim’s state and story is unfair to the survivor and will only further hurt someone who has already suffered through a traumatic ordeal since it causes them feel as though they are not being listened to or heard. In addition to investigations that are often biased and poorly conducted, the number of convictions made in sexual assault cases is astonishingly small. A few years ago, “The Chicago Tribune published the results of a study involving 171 campus sex complaints at six Midwestern universities. Twelve of the accused perpetrators were arrested, and only four were convicted” (Hedelman and Brown). Due to the low conviction rates, many women feel as though their allegations of having been sexually assaulted are not being taken seriously or even acknowledged (Hedelman and Brown). Unfortunately, sexual assault is a popular crime on college campuses, but when victims bring their stories forward to law enforcers, they are not taken seriously and severe punishments are rarely given to assaulters, which further harms people who have already been wrongly treated. Police and investigators have to change the ways in which they deal with sexual assault cases because investigations are unfairly biased and are usually so inaccurately conducted that most offenders

A western New York five hundred bed hospital in an urban community sees victims of abuse both in the emergency room and the women’s health center. Nurses are confronted with young female victims of various ages, class, culture, and race, who are in abusive relationships or have been assaulted. The vast majority of these victims’ female, and college aged. Addressing the issue of rape is sometime difficult and uncomfortable for both the victim and caregiver. The dialogue, voice tone and body language and advice that nurses articulate to victims can have a lifetime affect. It is important to establish a trusting relationship with victims, to allow for open communication when addressing the sensitive issue of sexual assault. Rape leaves emotional scars that do not heal as quickly as physical wounds. The nurses best equipped to handle victims like this are forensic nurses. The problem stems from underage drinking, loss of control and the ability to say “no” against a deaf perpetrator. The disgusting act of perversion weighs heavy on the minds of the victims, family and friends. It is unfortunate that the innocent victims feel the guilt, shame and stigma. Nurses’ must advocate for female empowerment, self worth and respect by securing their rights, health and wellbeing after a rape. Rape victims are not always followed up with after leaving the hospital, the unresolved emotional end of trauma can lead to long term affects

“They are all innocent until proven guilty. But not me. I am a liar until I am proven honest.” Louise O’Neill. Rape has become a widely recognized issue in recent decades, however, an estimated 63 percent of assaults are never reported to the police. Differences in 1930’s issues compared to present day include: false rape accusations centered around racial prejudice, but now skirt the main issue of rape itself; victims still face many obstacles but now feel more supported; development of rape kits helped solve many suits but make survivors wearisome; and today’s trials are not based on accusations, but are based on evidence.

I choose this topic because sexual assault is one of the most offensive crimes committed in our society. Not only is it a threat to the community, but it has a physically and psychologically effect on the victim in many ways. For the last couple of decades, sexual assault, rape, and child molestation has become the focal point of public concerns today. According to a 1993 National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, about 500,000 rapes or sexual assaults occur each year (Statistics, March 2010). The Department of Justice states that, “rape crimes have risen nearly three times as fast as the total crime rate”, although other studies have shown statistics that are in

The film I watched was called The Hunting Ground this film started off very interesting. It showed clips of students finding out for the first time they got accepted to the university of their choice. Most of the students screamed of shock and it was obvious they were thrilled. Then a couple girls get interviewed about their experience their first months at that school, almost all of them had the perfect grades and perfect lives. However, these interviews take a twist when many girls getting interviewed start telling the story of when they got raped, there was also about three guys that were victims of this too. The weird part of it all was that more than half of them got raped by a friend or someone they knew for a while. Many of the victims didn’t know how to handle what had happened to them. If they spoke to friends they could be judged, and speaking to their parents was even worse. After a while of keeping that secret in many decided to go talk to someone in their university office. In almost all of these cases, the person in the office starts questioning them about what they could of changed to avoid it etc. instead of helping them and taking care of this horrible problem. The people in the office ultimately say they will help, but several days pass and the victims don’t hear anything about them. The universities do it on purpose, the statistics show almost all universities never expel students for such thing. They do this to make their campus look safe and to not keep

In the film “Hunt for the Wilder People” and the prologue of ‘Kafka on Shore ‘identity can change through hardship. In ‘hunt for the Wilder people ‘. Identity can change through hardship is evident when Ricky Baker changes into clothes that blend into the bush setting whilst he was getting chased by the child welfare. Nevertheless, Ricky’s identity changes towards the end of the film as he no longer conforms to the gangster style clothing hence he blends in with the environment. Similarly, in the prologue of ‘Kafka on Shore’, Identity changing through hardship is evident when Kafka plans to escape from his father to re-establish his life. Moreover, He creates a new imaginary friend called Crow whilst he was facing hardship with his father.

The Hunting Ground (2015), explores sexual assaults on college campuses. The film shows many survivors conveying their experience with sexual assault and how their colleges or universities has handled their trauma. This film also shows the psychological toll sexual assault has on the survivor as well as their families. Additionally, the film presents how institutions cover it up and/or present a penalty that is not fit for the crime.

“Rape is unique. No other violent crime is so fraught with controversy, so enmeshed in dispute and in the politics of gender and sexuality… And within the domain of rape, the most highly charged area of debate concerns the issue of false allegations. For centuries, it has been asserted and assumed that women “cry rape,” that a large proportion of rape allegations are maliciously concocted for purposes of revenge or other motives.”

When most people hear the phrase sexual abuse we all have a tendency to assume the victim is a female. It is only a myth that males are not sexually assaulted, or that it only happens in while incarcerated. Sexual assaults can happen to anyone no matter their age, sex, orientation, or even identity. In fact, in between 9-10% of all male rape survivors outside of prisons are male and 16% of men have experienced sexual abuse before the age of 18. These reports are only an estimate because most male survivors of sexual abuse will either never report it or they encounter barriers while trying to report it. (Male Survivors of Sexual Assault, 2015) “The U.S. Department of Justice records an average of greater than 12,000 reported sexual assaults of men annually, and predicts that if unreported assaults are included, the actual number of men who are sexually assaulted in the United States each year is approximately 60,000.” (Male Survivors of Sexual Assault, 2015)

Sexual assault is a major issue in the world we live in today. The punishment that people get is never what they actually deserve.There has been all kinds of crime rates for sexual offence all over the world. Surveys in the United States have proven that one of every six women has experienced an attempt of rape or even a completed rape experience. Many women who are sexually assaulted are assaulted by men that they know,or has came into contact with. Women are rarely going to report that they have been raped when they know the asaultiant. With this being said there are alot of cases that are under reported. In this essay i will argue the many reasons why women are afraid to report a sexual assault crime made against them.

The theory behind this approach is to improve case outcomes for victims by giving them control back by eliminating as many barriers that cause victims to not want to report or to not stay engaged with the criminal justice process. First responding police officers have a difficult role in complex sexuall assault complaints. They are required to take reports from people who report crimes, write a report, gather evidence, interview witnesses and suspects and conduct follow-up. When reports from sexual assault victims are delay, have no evidence to produce, are unsure of a location, and change their story it brings skepticism to the investigative process. This is a difficult task if police officers use the traditional method law enforcement has historically used in sexual assault investigtions. This tradional method is an investigative process that suggests the victim is not credible in terms of their vulnerability of what they wore, how much they had to drink, whether they were a prostitute, changed their story, a lack of noticeable injuries, instead of investigating what the perpetrator did to make the victim less credible and vulnerable to the