The Hunting Ground: A Chilling Expose of College Campus Rape

The Hunting Ground is an award-winning documentary on the failure of American universities to adequately address incidents of rape on their college campuses. It features heart breaking testimonies of young women – that were ignored – by the same institutions they’d fought so hard to get into. This 103-minute film provides an in-depth analysis of the barriers, survivors face to getting justice. 

Director, Kirby Dick, expertly navigates the themes upholding the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses: Influential alumni donors; the financial capital possessed by successful varsity teams; the glass ceiling in academic circles; Universities obsession with “brand”.

The excuses given by some university officials for failing to investigate are almost as infuriating the incidents of rape. 

Harvard law graduate, Kamilah Willingham, was dismissed by university officials after she reported being fingered by a fellow student while she was unconscious. The Dean of the students’ office told Kamilah: “I just want to make sure, above all else, that you don’t talk about this... it could be bad for everyone”. 

The Vegas-like mantra: “What happens in college stays in college” was a consistent theme in the stories of these young women. Psychologist, George Alyssa, aptly explains this maddening logic: “Universities are a brand and it is in their interest to make you believe that universities are a safe place.”

The tragic suicide of Lizzie Seeberg sheds light on just how entrenched the culture of secrecy and defensiveness that comes with a university putting their “brand” over the safety of its students. Lizzie was allegedly raped by a future football star attending the prestigious Notre Dame College, renown for producing athletes in the Football Hall of Fame. A former security guard at Notre Dame revealed: Notre Dame Football college had a policy where no security staff could contact or access their football players while they were using the stadium facilities. 

The infamous Yale fraternity, SAE (Sigma, Aplha Epsilon), managed to insulate itself from the most egregious displays of misogyny, since its powerful alumni that donate generously to the university indirectly incentivise the university to sweep issues under the carpet. The documentary convincingly highlights the correlation between powerful alumni with deep pockets and the university’s mismanagement of rape cases.

You’re most likely to be raped by someone you know:

We’ve all heard the statistics around the likelihood of being raped by a partner, friend or colleague is greater than a complete stranger. The experiences shared by survivors are both revealing and harrowing – the ideal “university experience” – already ruined before it’s even started.

Andrea Pino recalls being raped at a party by a seemingly nice guy – “he was a great dancer” – forcibly smashing her head against the bathroom wall after she resisted his advances. She questions whether anybody could hear her and why nobody entered the bathroom to intervene. 
Author, Daniel Dirks, beautifully captures our misconceptions around the perpetrators of rape: “On college campuses it’s not the person that is hiding in the bushes car parking lot to jump out that’s going to rape or sexually assault you... it is the person whom you know, the person you may have classes with the person that you see at a party.”

Stripping university funding may be an effective solution:
Sick and tired of being ignored – a group of survivors across multiple universities – organise themselves to address the monumental coverups and half-baked attemps to “investigate” allegations of rape. These women sought to rely on Title IX (title nine) - a gender equality law – that ensured women could have equal access to educational institutions; it states that no educational institution can discriminate of the basis of sex. The argument is that sexual harassment acts as a barrier to equal access to educational opportunities, which violates Title IX. A violation of Title IX could lead a university losing all of its federal funding.

The wave of activism that followed this campaign led to a thorough investigation by the US Department of Education, which placed at least 50 universities in violation of title 9.

Still on the fence?

See this film as an opportunity to understand “the other side” of the argument. I appreciate that this film will be triggering for many, but it is the coffee that many others need to wake up.

Documentaries are illuminating – what makes them addictive – is the opportunity to see a world or an issue that you’ve been completely ignorant to. This documentary is an opportunity to learn more about an issue that undoubtedly affects all of the women in your life. 

It’s worth 103 minutes of your life. Please watch it.