The Hunting Ground; a powerful book that sheds light on the mistreatment and backlash that victims of sexual assault have received, including the so-called “rape-hoax culture.”, provides context for a growing social movement fueled by the stories and accounts of these victims. In a generation that is no stranger to the pressures of life, the appeal of sex, drugs, and alcohol to escape stress and demands, can create a hotbed for illegal activity, like sexual violence, on college campuses. Many young college students choose to go out to frat parties on the weekend to let loose and have fun, never thinking that they could find themselves unclothed on the dirty floor of a mysterious bedroom, with no recollection of how they got there. Even worse,
In the article “Die Trying”, Katie J.M. Baker points out the difficulties of being a rape victim in Alabama and nationwide. The article “Die Trying” talks about a student named Megan Rondini who attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa who accused T.J. Bunn Jr. of rape. The events that led to sexual assault happened in July 1, 2015 at night where Megan Rondini went to Innisfree Irish Pub with a couple of her sorority sisters and drank five cups of beer. After drinking the beer Megan Rondini blacked out and found herself in T.J. Bunn’s car with his friend going back to his house.
“...he said he was in the process of establishing a program for high school and college students so that he could ‘speak out against the college campus drinking culture and the sexual promiscuity that goes along with that,’”("20 minutes”). The assault that Brock Turner took place in, is not defined because of the level of their intoxication, it is explained through basic moral and knowingness that rape is wrong. Because the victim was unresponsive, the act is directly considered unacceptable. Even more so, the act of rape should not be undermined to something as under-represented as sexual promiscuity. Turner and his attorney’s claim that he only committed the assault because he was under the influence of alcohol and that he should personally participate in programs that enforce the effects of binge drinking.
Furthermore, Griffin commonly sites credible studies and explores historical moments to provide context and support for her claims. One article in particular written by Griffin (1971) demonstrates her masterful use of ethos, “Rape: The All-American Crime.” This article was the first of its kind as it discusses rape from a feminist perspective and challenges common beliefs about rape. Up until this point rape and sexual violence was rarely discussed and when it was it was by a man. Griffin begins the article by explaining her credentials, describing her personal experiences with rape culture in America, and illustrating the urgency with which women and victims need to be heard.
In the book, Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in College Town, by Jon Krakauer, the reader delves into how rape and sexual assault are treated in the town of Missoula, and the University of Montana. As the reader, we are informed on how the university, the police department, the district attorney’s office, and the community reacted to these rape and sexual assault allegations. We see how the criminal justice system has failed the victims, and are forced to live with what happened to them, while their assailants are free of any burden. The law is set in place to protect people from victimization, but when the men, in this book, are not legally held accountable, then any woman, or man, is more susceptible to victimization. It is interesting
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town is a in-depth look at the issue of sexual assault on college campuses as told through the stories of students at the University of Montana in Missoula. Through the narratives, author Jon Krakauer ties in statistics and information creating an effective work that stands as emotionally compelling while remaining grounded and applying these stories to the greater problem of sexual assault. It tackles one of the biggest problems surrounding sexual assault in general, the treatment of the accused compared with the treatment of the accuser. Though Missoula focuses on the victims, it does provide much of the necessary background and possible motivations for the assaulters. These insights contribute
The documentary The Hunting Ground by Kirby Dick was created specifically to spread awareness of the vast problem of sexual assault on college campuses and to try to show that the problem needs to be solved. The creator wanted those struggling with their sexual assault and the unfair treatment they were exposed to, as well as anyone who may have to go through sexual assault in the future, to know that the problem of sexual assault that universities tried to hide in the dark is finally being given the spotlight they deserve. The spark of this idea of the documentary was the many stories of survivors across the nation from many different universities, specifically the story of Annie and Andrea who helped other survivors get the justice they deserve.
Colleges are protecting their public record and do not wish to affect their brand be publicly admitting the high rates of sexual assaults. The documentary focused on a student attending Harvard Law School and the administrators insisted that the female victim should remain silent and avoid spreading the incident around. They asked questions such as, "Did you give him the wrong message, why did you choose not to fight back". Victim blaming is presented when the administrators are more interested in what the victim did wrong rather than what the offender's actions
In their opinion piece published in the New York Times, Miriam Gleckman-Krut and Nicole Bedera, two students from University of Michigan, claim that students being accused of sexual assault on-campus should not be the ones providing the definition of sexual assault because more victims will stay silent. Their article tackles the research question “how does allowing the accused to define sexual assault affect the victim?”. The piece was written in response to Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, who claimed that former President Obama’s policies on on-campus rape stripped the accused of their liberties because less evidence was required from the victims, who often struggle to create concreate evidence due to trauma or difficulty remembering.
Therefore, candidates have to take this issue seriously when campaigning in hoping of winning an election. Despite feminism rightfully on the rise, this event at Columbia University has stemmed a fiery crusade against sexual violence and domestic violence on college campuses around the world, especially in the United
The documentary called The Hunting Grounds, had multiple concepts that relate to sociology. Using a sociological perspective, it was very prevalent to see the ways college campuses use patriarchy and gender stratification to keep women who have been sexually assaulted on campus from disclosing information or even getting help about these issues. Through the discrimination against women at these gender institutions the women formed a Feminist movement to bring awareness and help to the victims on campuses all around the world and to stop the assaults from reoccurring. The Hunting Grounds is a documentary that reveals the untold stories of women on college campuses and how these women have fought to have their voice heard about sexual assault on campuses. Sexual assault and rape on campuses has always been a major problem for colleges all over the world yet very little has been done to protect the students.
The state of California vs Brian Banks In early 2002 a 16 year old football prodigy, Brian Banks was excused from class with a hall pass to use the restroom, where he met up with 15 year old female, Wannetta Gibson. The two went into the elevator with intent to go to the infamous “ make out “ spot, when Wannetta was allegedly raped by her fellow classmate. When Wannetta went back to class she wrote a note to her stating that, “ she use to be a virgin but she ain’t one anymore because Brian had raped her.” After school that evening she informed her sister that she had been assaulted, and then her sister urged her to report it to the school administration.
In society and college campuses, sexual assault occurs quite frequently. According to an estimation one third of women experience a forced sexual experience at least once in their life and most of the time it occurs in colleges. Men have also been reported to be victim of sexual assaults mostly by other men. Most of the time the sexual assault is planned and perpetrated by a third person, who is known to the victim of incident. Drug and alcohol use play role in this issue and contribute to the problem as most of the time the victim and perpetrators are under the effect of alcohol or any other drug during the incident.
Sexual assault is a widespread problem on college campuses. In response, many institutions are developing policies mandating that certain employees report any student disclosure of sexual assault to university officials (and, in some cases, to police), with or without the survivor’s consent. These policies, conceptualized here as compelled disclosure, have been prompted and shaped by federal law and guidance, including Title IX and The Clery Act. Proponents of compelled disclosure assert that it will increase reports—enabling universities to investigate and remedy more cases of sexual assault—and will benefit sexual assault survivors, university employees, and the institution. However, many questions remain unanswered.
The U of A has created several programs to prevent and fight sexual assault, but in order to determine the effectiveness of the strategies used, it is important to identify the origins of sexual assault. The Campus Climate Survey on Sexual assault and Misconduct pointed out that “45% the surveyed students had witnessed a drunk person heading for sexual encounter” explained Genisis Lara. In addition, Filbert Barrera, who is a sergeant from University of Arizona Police Department, also mentioned that alcohol is one causes of sexual assault because people do not measure the consequences of their actions, so it is easier for the person to try to “force” someone to have some kind of sexual relation without consent of the other person. Since the
This summer, all over the United States it was difficult to turn on one’s television and not be subjected to the Stanford University case where a young man named Brock Turner sexually assaulted a young woman, with the mindset that what he was doing was okay, and that no consequences would come to him. Luckily according to CNN “‘About 25 yards away, two men, passers-by, had pinned down and restrained a young man who was later identified as Turner” (CNN). If not for those two bystanders, the damage done to the young victim would have been unimaginable. In the United States one out of every five women in college are victims of sexual assault. With sexual violence being so prevalent, the media attempts to make it okay to use for branding purposes,