I am sure I am not alone when I say that I left viewing of the Hunting Ground angered at the institutionalized higher education system. Placing the rights of the aggregate above the rights of one person has some merit in a bigger picture type of setting. But in a case of sexual assault, a blatant, terrifying, violent and emotionally burdening infraction of basic human privilege…this policy has absolutely no merit here. The safety and rights of an individual and their respective sexual identity must be upheld and taken seriously, from both preventative and reactionary platforms.

Preventative in the sense that the campus policies and laws enforced, with ample staff and campus culture to effectively enforce them, prevent the occurrence of sexual violence to the best degree possible. All colleges can to an extent claim this first effort in the fight against sexual violence. They have laws and policies in place which illuminate the expected response if a situation of sexual violence does occur.

The part of this discussion that infuriated me was the second platform I highlighted. The reactionary part of policy placement which places a degree of responsibility on the college and their safety staffing to actively manage and take action against knowing and unknowing violators of these policies. The cover up efforts of the schools Kirby Dick includes within his documentary are abominable. Placing the blame on the victim, urging them not to report, and giving them doubt about their respective incident instead of resourceful support and reassurance is a poor message to deliver to their student body.

A potent example which was given at one point during the film is one I believe deserves recapitulation here.

“If the university of your dreams said that your daughter or son has a 1 in 4 chance of being murdered due to a drive by shooting, what parent could ever send their daughter or son there”

While one stance of this quote may be that the situation exists, and it exists outright so the only positive solution to the issue the school has is to cover it up. Clearly this is not the moral or legal action plan to take, and the institutions have a right of transparency regarding the safety of their campuses.