'The Hunting Ground' Sheds New Light On Campus Rape Epidemic in the US

[Dr. Jai Maharaj]

'The Hunting Ground' Sheds New Light On Campus Rape Epidemic

By Neesha Arter
The Daily Beast
thedailybeast.com
February 26, 2015

A new documentary follows two activists around the
country as they talk to fellow survivors about the trauma
of rape and the triumph of survival.

Rape has always been a taboo topic in our society, but
lately that seems to be changing thanks to activists like
Annie Clark and Andrea Pino.

Clark and Pino are leading the crusade for Title IX -- a
federal legislation most famous for sports equality, but
which prohibits all discrimination (including sexual
harassment and violence) on the basis of sex in any
education program or activity that receives federal
funding -- and the Clery Act, which grants protections
for sexual assault victims on college campuses. They
recently made their film debut as activists in the new
documentary "The Hunting Ground," by Oscar-nominated
filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering.

Pino graduated valedictorian of her high school and was
the first of her family to leave her home state of
Florida to go to college at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. Clark, a North Carolina native
and high school athlete, wanted to stay in state for
college and chose Chapel Hill as well. Having both
survived rape while college students, they eventually
created End Rape On Campus, a survivor advocacy
organization dedicated to ending sexual violence.

The film notes that 16 to 20 percent of undergraduate
women are sexually assaulted in college, and 88 percent
of women raped on campus do not report.

The documentary follows the two women as they drive
cross-country to meet with other sexual assault survivors
on college campuses who wish to file complaints against
their schools. Clark, who became a campus administrator
at the University of Oregon after graduation, reflects in
the film, "I basically had to make a choice if I wanted
to continue to support survivors or have my actual
administrative job at a university. I figured I could do
more good this way, so I resigned."

The film notes that 16 to 20 percent of undergraduate
women are sexually assaulted in college, and 88 percent
of women raped on campus do not report. Pino details her
violent assault as a second year student. She says, "It
all happened really quickly. I was actually a virgin, so
that adds a bit to it. He just started pulling me towards
the bathroom. He grabbed my head by the side of my ear
and slammed it against the bathroom tile and it didn't
stop."

Continues at:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/26/the-hunting-ground-sheds-new-light-on-campus-rape-epidemic.html

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj