Summary: The documentary “Hunting Ground” attacks Harvard Law School’s management of a sexual assault case over a year ago, which has angered a number of professors at Harvard Law School.
A new documentary “Hunting Ground” examining campus sexual assault cases and how they are handled was released to theaters earlier this year and will air on CNN this week. The focus of the film is the story of the two victims from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The film, however, calls out other institutions like Harvard and the way they have handled sexual assault cases.
Nineteen law professors from Harvard are now criticizing the film and how it makes Harvard Law look. Kamilah Willingham and a friend claim to have been sexually assaulted by another law student at Harvard Law. The attacker was initially expelled from the school, but upon further investigation and appeals, he was allowed to return his studies at the school.
See Harvard Law School Using New Sexual Assault Procedure for more information.
The film points out that Harvard Law School was found by the government to be in violation of the gender equity law Title IX a year ago. They say this is enough proof that Willingham’s case was mishandled. The faculty of the school disagrees.
As they explained in their statement, “There was never any evidence that Mr. Winston [the accused student] used force, nor were there even any charges that he used force. No evidence whatsoever was introduced at trial that he was the one responsible for the inebriated state of the women who are portrayed in the film as his victims. Nor was any body vested with final decision-making authority persuaded that Mr. Winston was guilty of any sexual assault offense at all. Mr. Winston was finally vindicated by the law and by the judicial proceedings, and allowed to continue his career at the law school and beyond.”
The film stands by their findings with a fact sheet on the film’s webpage. They have stated, “In an effort to dismiss the crisis of the campus sexual assault, some rape deniers have attacked the findings of our film and some of the victims in it. Whatever the motivation of these critics – and frankly it boggles the mind – the truth is on our side. These are the facts.”
Photo: seventeen.com