Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault
Recently, in my Women's Studies class, we viewed The Hunting Ground, a 2015 documentary that addresses sexual assault on college campuses. The stories that the victims and their families shared, and the rallying of the activists, made for a deeply moving and emotional piece. The refusal of the college administrations to acknowledge that sexual assault had occurred on their campus, even when being told so by a victim, or even the perpetrator, was appalling to me. The following is an essay I wrote in response to the movie. If have been sexually assaulted, or know someone who has, I encourage you to reach out to someone. Visit seeactstop.com to learn more. Knowledge is power!

In The Mask You Live In, we learn that from birth, men are socially molded to be the strongest sex. The colors they wear have become masculine - so that women feel they are “not allowed” to wear these colors - even though they are just colors. Men are taught - through media, family members, and friends - to keep all sad and happy emotions they feel inside, so that when these emotions finally bubble to the surface, as the inevitably will, they are revealed in anger and aggression. Hyperfeminity exists in the same way. Women are taught to be demure and submissive, lesser than men. They’re seen as objects, therefore when they come forward as victims of sexual assault, they are not taken seriously. According to "The Mask You Live In", “Research shows that compared to girls, boys in the U.S. are more likely to be diagnosed with a behavior disorder, prescribed stimulant medications, fail out of school, binge drink, commit a violent crime, and/or take their own lives.” The Representation Project, an extension of the film, hopes to begin to create a world that is free of limiting stereotypes so that these types of statistics do not exist. On their website, they provide information about how you can help - regardless of your age. They empower everyone to speak up and speak out in minimal ways that can alter the culture of victim-blaming for all of society.

A culture of victim-blaming has emerged surrounding sexual assault. Instead of being taught “don’t rape,” we are taught “don’t get raped.” While it is important to know how to defend yourself in today’s society, our first objective should be to get rid of the need for defense, and support victims. Rather than being helped and given the support they needed victims of sexual assault in "The Hunting Ground" were asked what they were wearing, and whether or not they try to fight off their assailant. In the case of an Florida State University student who was assaulted by an FSU football player, the Dean of Students and other faculty members jumped to protect his reputation and FSU’s own reputation. He had become a celebrity, and it seemed the school would do anything to keep that intact, even though this girl lives every day having to deal with the trauma of what she experienced.

This enforces rape culture because it teaches rapists that they can get away with it. The victim was told by her Dean of Students, “Rape is football. When you look back now, what would you do differently?” When the victim was bullied to the point of leaving school, FSU football fans cheered. They applauded him, and shamed her. They called her “a jealous girl looking for fame.” This reinforced this idea that he was right and she was wrong, no matter what she claimed. This also minimized the assault - and minimized the fact that he should have been punished and he wasn’t at all.

He continued to grow and be successful, eventually becoming the quarterback for the Buccaneers. In January of this year, FSU settled for $950,000 in the victim’s case. The language that the President of Florida State University used in his response to the settlement still denied the fact that the assailant had raped the victim saying, “We have an obligation to our students, their parents and Florida taxpayers. With all the economic demands we face, at some point it doesn't make sense to continue even though we are convinced we would have prevailed.” When the president says prevailed here, he is referring to clearing his FSU quarterback’s name for the rape the president denies was committed. Trying to deny the rape is holding the quarterback’s life above the victim’s, and although I understand how financially detrimental an acknowledgement of the rape could be for FSU, it will never be a valid reason for doing so.

Another example is from two students at Harvard Law, who were sexually assaulted by another Harvard Law student in 2011. One of the students filed a claim with the Administrative Board, who hired an attorney to look into the details of her claim. The claim stated that he had removed the two girls clothes, and touched them without their consent. When the assailant denied this claim, the attorney found that he was “not credible” in his denial. The Administrative Board eventually had a hearing, and a sanction of dismissal was placed on the assailant. However, Harvard Law violated their Title IX policies when they initiated a Review Hearing without informing the victims. The faculty in the Review Hearing voted to overturn the decisions of the attorney hired by the Administrative Board. A Title IX complaint was filed between the Department of Education and Harvard Law School, which required Harvard Law to change its appeal process. In 2012, a grand jury indicted the accused on two counts of indecent assault and battery. In March 2015, a jury convicted the accused of non-sexual assault. The handling of this case does nothing to ensure that victims feel safe enough to come forward and talk about their sexual assault. There is no guarantee that their voices will be heard, and if they are heard, the victims can’t be sure that they will get the justice they deserve.

When people assume that false rape claims occur on college campuses more frequently than they actually do, sexual assault policies become lenient towards the assailant and question the validity of the victim’s claims. Assuming that the rape did not occur because, as one victim from Saint Mary’s was told, “These things don’t happen here,” perpetuates the cycle of rape on college campuses. With this ideology, it prevents victims from coming forward out of fear. They don’t want the ridicule, and they want to repress the memory. Bringing a sexual assault case forward requires the recounting of events, the reliving of traumatic memories. That is why we need to ensure victims that they are safe, that they are loved, and that they are supported.

To begin a step in the right direction, the stigma around talking about sexual assault needs to be removed. It needs to be talked about constantly. Believing that a campus is above that, out of pride or other reasons, eliminates the possibility of a safe environment for the victim. According to

"The Hunting Ground", 8% of men in college commit 90% of campus assaults, meaning that most rapists are repeat offenders. They know they can get away with it, because it is not acknowledged. The belief that denying that it happens in the first place will make it stop happening is false. If administration refuse to acknowledge that it happened, do not make the public aware of the potential for assault, then when a new class of freshmen enter, unaware and uninformed, the cycle will continue. When people begin to acknowledge that it does occur, it allows for movement to happen, for the furthering of safe discussions.

The thing that surprised me most about "The Hunting Ground: was the victim’s stories of how they told their parents that they had been sexually assaulted, because it wasn’t something that I had even thought about. As someone who has never been sexually assaulted, I’ve always thought of the rape itself as the traumatic event. But as one victim put it, “My rape was traumatic, but watching my parents deal with my rape was even harder.” Thankfully, the victims in the documentary shared that their parents were on their way to the university to be with them as soon as they received the call. But it made me realize that rape and sexual assault affects more than just the victim, and it doesn’t end with the rape. The process of recovery is a long journey. The victim’s family needs to learn to deal with a situation they hoped they’d never have to endure. They struggle with guilt - feeling like they should have protected their son or daughter more. They question what choices they could have made differently. Victims struggle with learning to trust other people again, learning to be intimate again. Not only might victims feel betrayed by their assailant (if they knew the person), but if campus sexual assault is not dealt with correctly by administration, as it often isn’t, victims lose faith in people they thought would go to the ends of the earth to make them feel safe. They thought their professors, their administrators - the people who work at a school they love and have pride in - would see them as more than just a number. That is one of the most heartbreaking things about the way campus sexual assault is dealt with.

We need to make a change. And it starts with you.