I was touched by the song from "The Hunting Ground" that Lady Gaga sang at the Oscars. With two friends, I saw the documentary many months ago, and we were all upset. I cried afterward, and the song is a strong, powerful expression of the survivors of sexual assault. The film focuses on one campus, but implicates many more. Freshman girls and some boys are naive and not warned by the colleges, and unprepared for situations of assault. They are often drugged, and though the perpetrators are few percentagewise, they assault again and again with impunity, because the adminstation protects them, especially if they are prized athletes. Often it is the victim who is blamed and forced out of school, or if not, she is forced to encounter the perpetrator on campus time after time.
Lady Gaga's passion and the fifty plus survivors who surrounded her on the stage force us to face how we do not protect our still teenage children from trauma. Many never tell us, as Lady Gaga did not tell her family. It's time to insist that this silent aquiescence be broken. I was almost raped twice as a freshman, and my campus is mentioned in the film. Luckily, I was not a drinker and was able to push away, say no, and leave. But one beer would have left me vulnerable. Drinking is a gateway to rape, excuses, and lack of responsibility. But with drugs, and the resulting amnesia, it becomes a destroyer. Kids need to be aware, and authorities need to step up to the plate and defend the innocent, not the perpetrators. They need to cooperate with the police. Right now they bear a remarkable resemblance to the Catholic Church. They are protecting the guilty, and not securing the safety of the innocent.
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