By Rachel Sandler
George Mason University, in conjunction with Virginia Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn, will host a free screening of the documentary “The Hunting Ground” on June 10 in the Johnson Center Cinema. The film, which examines the issue of sexual assault on college campuses, has been lauded by critics for tackling the controversial subject since it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
While the event is free, donations will be accepted and given to the Domestic Violence Action Center of Fairfax County, according to a press release from the office of Delegate Filler-Corn. All donations will be given in memory of Grace Mann, a University of Mary Washington student who was killed in April.
Northern Virginia Magazine talked to Annie Clark, whose story—along with that of friend Andrea Pino—is the narrative backbone of the film. After attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, both women started a nonprofit called End Rape on Campus and have worked with lawmakers and other activists to raise awareness and end sexual assault on college campuses. Clark and Pino’s organization focuses on filing Title IX and Clery Act complaints on behalf of survivors.
Both Clark and Pino will appear on a panel after the screening of the documentary.
How did you come to be in the film? Did Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, the director and producer of the film, approach you?
What happened was Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering made a film called “The Invisible War,” which was about military sexual assault, and as they began to screen the film on college campuses, they would have a lot of survivors and people come up to them afterwards and say: “The same thing is happening at our schools. Can you make a film about it?” They considered it, but they were actually doing a completely different project at the time. Then they went to UNC-Chapel Hill, where I graduated from and where Andrea Pino was a student at the time, and one of Andrea’s residents—[Andrea] was a resident advisor—went up to Kirby and basically said, “This thing is happening at UNC; you should reach out to Annie and Andrea,” and they did. They explored the project for a little bit, and eventually we connected and they made the film.
One part of the conversation about this issue is whether universities are equipped to investigate sexual assault. “The Hunting Ground” talks about this specifically, but what are your thoughts?
I think right now you have two broken systems: You have a criminal justice system, and you have the school system. For me personally, and I think EROC [End Rape On Campus] as well, I would like two systems that would both be able to investigate these cases fairly. It should be up to the survivor to either go to the police or to the school or both. The school is going to do things like change a class schedule or change a dorm room, which the police aren’t going to immediately do. Some people might not want to report to both systems or either system, and I think that should be their choice, but in the meantime we need to make sure that both systems are equipped to deal with it. Right now neither is.
Statistics about sexual assault on college campuses are really hard to come by, especially statistics that are undisputed. The Department of Justice’s 1-in-5 statistic cited in the film has been coming under fire recently, so what is your response to critics who say that the 1-in-5 statistic is misleading?
There is a bill right now at the federal level called the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, or the CASA Act, that would require surveys every two years about what’s happening on college campuses. The problem is that there isn’t great data on this because it’s self-reported and geographical. Having an anonymous survey would allow us to really see those numbers. I personally do think that the one in five statistic is correct, however my response to those critics who say it’s more like 1 in 20 or 1 in whatever is that it’s a total red herring for the argument. If we had 1 in 100 students having their laptops stolen or 1 in 50 students getting meningitis or any other crime or any other issue, this wouldn’t be a conversation. Whether it’s 1 in 10 or 1 in 5—that’s not the problem. The problem is that it’s happening way too frequently, and something needs to be done about it.
What impact do you think this film will have, both on college campuses and for the movement as a whole?
I just hope survivors who see it know that they’re not alone and it’s not their fault. I hope that college presidents and administrations see this as a call to action so that they will do something not only to change their policies, but also to enforce them and to better support survivors on their campus. I think that the issue of sexual assault in general is a very multifaceted problem, so it requires a multifaceted solution. I think the film is just one of those tools to help raise awareness about the issue.
“The Hunting Ground”
June 10, 7 p.m.
Johnson Center Cinema at George Mason University
Free
