The Hunting Ground & Rape Culture

Last night I went to see The Hunting Ground at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub. First off I would like to say that I am now a huge fan of the Bear Tooth Theater. The experience of seeing a movie in comfy chairs while being able to eat real food and have a beer was fantastic. I will most definitely be attending more movie and film events at the Bear Tooth in the future.

Now about the film… The Hunting Ground is a film documentary on sexual violence on college campuses, and the event was put on in part by STAR (Standing Together Against Rape). The film follows women who were raped and sexually assaulted during their college careers and who fought for justice. These women were blamed for their assaults and made to feel less than human in their pleas for help. They were interrogated and discouraged from filing claims and reporting especially to the police. The lack of care and concern for these young women by their educational institutions and even local police is abhorrent and caused a massive fury to rise within my being. As I sat watching the statistics of reported rapes versus expulsions on college campuses I could feel my fists clenching, and my body readying itself to attack the screen. I’m not sure that I will ever be able to hear “we take these cases very seriously” without my entire body tensing up and wanting to scream very foul language: “BULLSHIT NO YOU DON’T YOU FUCKIN PIECE OF SHIT! FUCK YOU! BEND OVER AND LET’S SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT! #^*($&%&%^&##$%%^^*()()&%&$^&%@%^%$^*^&*$%^*$^*%^$%^#%@#####@#!!!!!

It was a very triggering film for me, and it made me quite angry if you couldn’t tell. I don’t understand how a grown adult could look at a young woman who is crying at being forced to relive her rape and tell them that they are less of a human being than the man who raped them. I am angry that anyone would have the audacity to hurt these women in such awful, violent, and demeaning ways and then throw them away like trash. I am angry that heads of universities are willing to let rapists walk the halls of their prominent schools. If I were the president of a university there would be no tolerance for sexual assault. The statistics on how many people were expelled for breaking honor codes like cheating were FAR more numerous than those who were expelled for sexual assault. I cannot ethically or morally be okay with that. These women are human beings and have been through an awful ordeal that is going to haunt them for their entire lives and now in order to change policy and get justice they have to relive their rapes and face threats from people who think that speaking out makes them worthy of death and destruction. The anger and frustration continued to rise within me throughout the entire film. There are still nail marks in my palms from clenching my fists so hard for so long.

Rape and sexual assault are real. They happen way too often, and Alaska is potent with these crimes. As a survivor of 4 rapes I can attest to the terror, trauma, and anxiety that follows survivors on a daily basis. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about at least one of my rapes. I often struggle with PTSD, anxiety, flashbacks, and nightmares. I can’t walk out a door without checking the surroundings. I need to have another person in the house at night in order to feel safe which is partly why I’ve been having sleep issues and nightmares lately because my roommate works nights, and I am alone in the apartment. I constantly check and double check that all the doors and windows in my home are locked and same with my vehicle. I have issues being intimate with people I’m romantically and sexually interested in and sometimes shut down. I can’t watch movies or read books with rape scenes without having a panic attack and flashbacks. I no longer am comfortable being in a friend’s home if it is just the two of us regardless of how long I have known them. Three of my four rapes were committed by people that were supposed to be my friends two of which were female.

Rape and sexual assault are not jokes; they are not funny; they destroy lives. One thing I highly admired about the film is that they included men who had been raped as well. We often forget that rape isn’t just a risk for females. I was raped once as Ashley and three times as Danny. Rape is rape regardless of who the perpetrator is and regardless of who the victim is. Any sexual contact that is forced upon an unwelcoming individual is a violation of their rights as a human being. I can’t even get into the violation of minor children but that is another subject that makes my anger blow its lid.

The Hunting Ground was an incredibly difficult film for me to sit through and watch, and I suffered last night for it. However, it was worth watching. We deserve to have our voices heard and to have justice. We deserve to have the discussion about rape, sexual assault, rape culture, and how to teach our children not to violate another person. Consent is sexy and necessary, and we all have the right to say “NO.”