The Hunting Ground (Isabella Reed)

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Isabella Reed

  1.
    How can we raise awareness to this problem so people can believe, empathize, and support survivors without having to experience the trauma themselves? What voice should the accused hold in these situations?
I believe the best way to raise awareness is by sharing one’s story, and continued activism like we saw in The Hunting Ground. The story telling in the documentary was, in my opinion, the most powerful part, and it made me even more aware of the issue of rape on college campuses, and also made me want to get involved and work against it. I also think protests are another powerful way to raise awareness, as people can’t pretend the issue doesn’t exist if it is shoved in front of their face. The protests and activism of recent years is what has pushed sexual assault to the forefront of the issues with colleges, and so these tried and true methods seem to be the best way to continue to raise awareness to campus sexual assault.

I also believe that the accused should definitely be able to tell their story. I do think that getting the accused’s side of the story can be informative, especially in cases that aren’t so clear cut, like cases where both parties were intoxicated. However, many rapists don't think of themselves as rapists, and so even if they say they didn't commit sexual assault, that doesn't mean they didn't. This should be taken into consideration when listening to the accused.
  1. When was the organization founded?
EROC was founded during the summer of 2013, by co-founders Sofie Karasek, Andrea Pino, and Annie Clark.
  1. What are the organization’s key objectives?
EROC’s objectives are to end sexual violence on college campuses by supporting survivors and their communities, prevention through education, and policy reform (campus, local, state, and federal reforms).
  1. Where does the organization receive its funding?
EROC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and receives funding through donations.
  1. How has the organization been portrayed in the news?
From what I have seen, EROC has mostly been portrayed very positively, as they have made campus sexual assault something widely covered in the media. Here is an example of an article on EROC. Most of the articles I have seen that include EROC are talking about the positive effect EROC has had on campus sexual assault.

 Choose a picture from The Hunting Ground.

 I chose this picture since I said the storytelling in this documentary was the most powerful part, and I chose a picture of Kamilah because of the article we read, which questioned her story. This goes along with what I said about how sometimes people who commit sexual assault don't always see their actions as sexual assault, and the article seriously questioned her story based partly off of the testimony of the man she accused of sexual assault.








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