Concept Reflection #8
The main idea of the film The Hunting Ground was that rape is all too familiar on college campuses and the victims of college rape are often ignored, harassed or blamed while the perpetrators lives remain virtually unaffected. One of the reasons that rape is so prominent, especially against women is that they have been seen as objects throughout time instead of human beings. This was also discussed in Miss Representation. Women are often over sexualized and this could contribute to the many instances of rape on college campuses. The mass media also portrays women as sex objects and this contributes to the rape culture on college campuses.
It was surprising to me that many well known and Ivy League schools had a rape problem on college campuses but often swept allegations under the mat and barely, if at all investigated them. It was sad to see how the victims in the documentary were treated, especially the Florida State student that was harassed by football fans and eventually forced to drop out of school. It was scary to see how the football fans were so concerned about the football team winning, that they sent death threats to the victim. It is also scary to know that rape happens on almost every college campus and the culture surrounding college greek life plays a big role in rape culture. It was sad to see that some of the victims were compelled to take their lives because they felt they had no other options. I did not know that most of the people who are rapists are repeat offenders and people that the victims usually know.
The primary problems were that rape is taken very lightly on college campuses even though they are strong advocates against it. When a victim reports that they have been raped or assaulted, their reports are often pushed aside and forgotten. If they continue to complain, the investigations are usually lazily carried out and if the perpetrators are found guilty, their punishments are very lenient, especially if they are an athlete. I think that rape should be taken very seriously on college campus and the punishment should be very harsh for the attackers. Rape can be life ruining for the victims and the punishment should be life ruining for the perpetrators as well. Many of the schools are worried that punishing perpetrators could have negative effects on the school’s reputation if the perpetrator sues the school, but it could be just as damaging to their reputation if the school is a dangerous place because of a rape epidemic. The victims of rapes should not have to live on campus or go to class knowing that their attacker could be in their class or walk past them, if someone is found guilty of rape they should be expelled from the college and punished at the criminal level.
