'The filmmakers themselves are very clear they're advocates, not journalists,' said Emily Yoffe, a contributing editor at The Atlantic magazine who has written extensively on campus rape. A group of 19 Harvard law professors wrote that it 'provides a seriously false picture both of the general sexual assault phenomenon at universities and of our student' accused in a case depicted in the film. Those concerns have continued to reverberate since the documentary's broadcast early last week on CNN, a co-producer of the film.įlorida State University's president has denounced The Hunting Ground. The film has also inspired a backlash - not only for its perspective but for the factual foundation on which it is based and its reporting methods. Since its debut early this year, The Hunting Ground has been cited as an inspiration for action by the White House and by New York Gov. 'If approximately 1 in 5 women are being sexually assaulted, the schools are really failing in this area.' Obviously being sexually assaulted is completely a safety issue,' Hunting Ground director Kirby Dick told NPR.

'Colleges and universities have a real responsibility to keep their students safe. The documentary The Hunting Ground, a searing look at the failure of American universities to grapple successfully with campus rape, has been embraced by CNN and shortlisted for next year's Oscars, while helping to sharpen the focus of college administrators. 'Schools, rather than addressing the problem, have in many, many cases covered this up,' says Kirby Dick, director of The Hunting Ground.

The hunting ground documentary online