The Hunting Ground - Julia Wallace & Hannah Wiltgen

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            We can help raise awareness for victims of sexual assault by encouraging them to share their stories, and not responding with ridicule and blame. The Hunting Ground documentary emphasizes how a lot of young women feel discouraged in reporting instances of sexual assault or harassment because of the lack of support from Colleges and Universities in previous cases. That being said, the accused do have the same rights to voice their side of the story as the accuser. It’s critical that a change be made in the way Institutions handle sexual assault reports, and enforce strict regulations on the accused, such as if they are to be removed from campus.
            Jameis Winston, a former football player on Florida State University, remained eligible to play for the University even after multiple accounts of alleged rape. He was not charged and barely questioned about the incident, while Erica Kinsman was blamed and repeatedly called horrible names for being an “attention seeker.” Stories like this prevent too many voices from being heard, and it has become an epidemic. In Lady Gaga’s music video titled, Til It Happens to You, she depicts several examples of how the emotional trauma of rape can leave victims feeling hopeless and abandoned. If we don’t take action to break the stigma surrounding sexual assault, the statistic of women who will encounter this damage at some point in their life will only continue to grow. By speaking out, and standing in solidarity with survivors, we can make progress towards having safer college campuses.

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Know Your IX

When was the Organization founded and by whom?

Know Your IX was founded in 2013, and is a youth-led project of Advocates for Youth.

What are the organization’s key objectives?

Know Your IX aims to empower students to end sexual and dating violence in their schools. This organization supports the choices survivors make - whether or not to report, and to whom to report. They accomplish their mission through educating college and high school students in the United States about their legal rights to safe educations free from gender-based harms. Training, organizing, and supporting student survivor activists in challenging their educational institutions to address violence and discrimination, advocating for a policy change at the campus, state, and federal levels.

Where does the organization receive its funding?

Title IX receives its funding essentially through federal funding (the vast majority of schools). Schools receiving federal funding must look to guidance materials from the U.S. Department of Education.

How has the organization been portrayed in the news?

Know Your IX has been portrayed in the news through a recent media coverage on September 7, 2017. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos speaks about campus sexual assault and enforcement of Title IX at George Mason University Arlington, Va., campus, the federal law that bars discrimination in education on the basis of gender. As stated in The Columbus Dispatch news article, “The U.S. Department of Education will review and redevelop Title IX enforcement policies put in place by the Obama discrimination to crack down on campus sexual assaults.” Education Secretary Betsy Devos has been the primary focus on most of the headlines surrounding the media, revolving around being helpless for sexual assault victims. All of the headlines in the media have a headline stating: “Protesting against Betsy Devos”, “Betsy Devos isn’t helping”, and “Betsy Devos Is Harming Sexual Assault Victims.”


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