Documentary chronicles epidemic of sexual assaults on U.S. college campuses

TORONTO – Documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick takes it as a compliment when told he’s made yet another infuriating documentary, this time an expose on campus rape called “The Hunting Ground.”

But he says it’s also disheartening to discover yet another instance of widespread assault that is not only being ignored, but actively concealed by the very people charged with ensuring safety.

“Every time you hear a story like that you become more determined to get the word out and hopefully things will change,” says Dick, whose Oscar-nominated film “The Invisible War” similarly uncovered a litany of brutal assaults and coverups in the military.

“There’s something about society that doesn’t want to believe that men will do this. And in fact, most men won’t, but it’s a small minority of men who assault again and again and that is the problem.”

“The Hunting Ground” documents in stark terms an epidemic of attacks taking place on U.S. college and university campuses, with dozens of young women recounting horrific encounters with fellow students that in most cases go unpunished.

Those who come forward report being dismissed by campus police and university administrators, who question what they did to bring on the attack and seem more interested in quelling complaints to protect the school’s reputation and endowments.

In the rare case that punishment is meted out, it’s often paltry. Examples of university discipline include a warning, an essay assignment and “expulsion after graduation.”

Survivors brave enough to speak out also put themselves at risk of retaliation from their attacker and his network of friends, who are nearly impossible to avoid in class or on campus.

As a result, assailants re-offend and the nightmare continues for another young woman.

“This isn’t just one institution, pretty much this is a problem in one way or another in every institution,” says writer/director Dick, who teamed up again with “The Invisible War” producer Amy Ziering.

“One of the things that happens after screenings every single time is people come up and say: ‘Look, I was a dean, I was in the administration, I was a faculty member, I knew this was a problem and I couldn’t get anybody to pay attention to it.’”

Dick says the culture of fear on campus was even more pronounced than what he found in the military.

“That shocked me. I think of universities and colleges as a free-speech zone — if any institution would be talking about women’s rights and sexual assault it would be colleges and universities. And they do, about (cases) outside their institution. But if people stood up and talked about what was going on in the institution there was reprisal after reprisal.”

Statistics presented in the film are staggering: As many as one in five college women will be sexually assaulted. Serial predators commit 91 per cent of all campus assaults. Fraternity men are three times more likely to rape than other college men. If nothing changes, more than 100,000 college students will likely be sexually assaulted in the next school year.

“It’s really important that if you have a child thinking about going to school, or in college, that you see this film,” says Dick, who has also heard complaints about campus life at Canadian institutions.

“Parents can play a very important role in helping it to change.”

The film includes interviews with campus police, psychologists and faculty members.

But it’s the personal accounts of survivors and their families that drive the issue home. They include interviews with a man whose daughter committed suicide after being raped, a biology student so traumatized she could barely leave her room, and a freshman and her friend who were attacked before the first day of class in separate incidents.

Since the film premiered last year at the Sundance Film Festival, Dick says he’s heard from several university presidents who seem open to addressing the problem. But others have attacked the film, including Florida State University president John Thrasher, whose school is especially disparaged for its perceived mishandling of a high-profile case.

“That’s a sign that there’s a problem at that school,” says Dick.

“The Hunting Ground” hits theatres Friday.