With the tragic Brock Turner case at the center of news coverage and social media talk, there has been a lot of mention of the documentary "The Hunting Ground." "The Hunting Ground" is a film about sexual assault on college campuses in the United States, and let me tell you, it is as chilling as its title.
The film revolves around two former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students who were victims of rape while in attendance at the prominent school. It tells their story of filing reports with the university -- which, like most schools, swept those crimes under the mat -- and then what the women did to fight back. After countless hours of research and work, they filed a Title IX complaint against UNC Chapel Hill, beginning an investigation of the university and their actions, or extreme lack thereof, in response to rape accusations. The women went on to form a network across the nation, helping victims at other schools to file Title IX complaints against their schools for the failure of the administration to deal with rape cases. Their actions also set a precedent of using Title IX to primarily deal with campus sexual assault.
This film is not just about the stories of these two women, however. It tells the story of campus sexual assault through fact and statistics. And if those aren’t shocking and moving enough, it uses personal stories of women and men who have experienced sexual assault firsthand -- of their friends and families, of coaches and campus police officers -- that will put you into tears.
So I say this; if you are interested in the Brock Turner case, go watch "The Hunting Ground." If you are in Greek life, go watch "The Hunting Ground." If you are a college sports fan, if you are a fan of the beloved Jameis Winston, go watch it. If you are an educator at any level, or a parent of a current or future college student, go watch it. If you are a firsthand victim, if you know someone who is a victim, or if you have no personal experience with sexual assault at all, go watch it. If you are a man, if you are a woman, if you care about the well-being of not just college students, but of your fellow human beings, go watch "The Hunting Ground." It is time to learn about the issue and to understand its gravity so that we can work towards ridding US society of such a horrifying, yet accepted, crime.
You can now watch "The Hunting Ground" on Netflix.
