The documentary The Hunting Ground explores the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses in the United States. It covers incidents at many universities and colleges in the United States, including the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, the University of Southern California, the University of California – Berkeley, George Mason University, Florida State University, Arizona State University, Brown University, University of California – Davis, Tufts University, Swarthmore College, Yale University, Harvard University, Occidental College, the University of Tulsa, and others.
The Hunting Ground tells the stories of women and men who were the victims of sexual battery while students at institutions of higher education in the US.
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This chapter discusses how sexual battery is defined, how those crimes are punished, how sexual crimes are measured, theories of why people commit these types of crimes, what happens after a sexual assault, and how the law treats these crimes and their victims. The crimes covered in the documentary fall under the category of sexual battery, also known as rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, and deviant sexual conduct (Doerner, 2021). The current FBI definition of rape is “penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim,” (Rape, …show more content…
According to the textbook, date or acquaintance rape occurs when “the victim and offender know one another and are engaged in friendly, non-combative interaction up until the attack,” (Doerner, 2021). These types of crimes are especially prevalent on college campuses in the United States and the documentary alleges that universities and colleges across the country take significant steps to cover up these crimes in order to maintain a certain image.
I think this documentary is a very important one to watch for everyone, not just people taking the “Victimization” course. Learning about a crime that is especially prevalent in our community and understanding the context and controversies surrounding it can be very eye-opening. I feel like this crime in particular is not talked about enough due to the stigmas surrounding it and the stereotype surrounding false reporting. The mix of different stories and experiences covered in the documentary show how this type of crime can happen to anyone and can affect people in a multitude of different