By Simon Tomlinson

PUBLISHED: 05:58 EST, 27 March 2013 | UPDATED: 06:11 EST, 27 March 2013

A female film student disgusted by coverage of the Steubenville sex attack trial has directed an anti-rape video with the message: 'Real men treat women with respect'.

University of Oregon sophomore Samantha Stendal says she wanted 'something positive out there' after the high-profile case of two footballers convicted of raping a drunk 16-year-old girl.

She claimed elements of the media had been too sympathetic to the defendants and was outraged that some people had even blamed the victim.

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Determined to redress the balance, she asked two friends to act in a short clip called 'a needed response' and the video has already been watched nearly 1.4million times in just a few days.

The film shows a man who stumbles across a woman sleeping on a sofa.

He looks into the camera and says: 'Hey bros, check who passed out on the couch. Guess what I'm gonna do to her.'

He then puts a pillow under her head, covers her with a blanket and places a mug of water next to her for when she wakes up.

He then crouches down in front of the camera and delivers the film's core message: 'Real men treat women with respect'.

Samantha told the New York Daily News: 'We all need to treat one another like decent human beings.

'My video was a direct response to the Steubenville rape case. It is horrifying to me that some people can say that people deserve rape when they are passed out.

'But even though my video is of a guy and girl, I want it to relate to anyone. No matter what your gender, you should treat one another with respect.'

They were accused of attacking her during a series of end-of-summer parties in August last year.

According to prosecutors, each of them penetrated the victim with his fingers, an act that constitutes rape under Ohio law if it is not consensual.

At the heart of case was whether the victim was too drunk to understand what was happening to her.

CNN's coverage of the case drew particular criticism after the cable news network focused on the devastating effect on the 'promising' lives of the rapists and not the victim.

As the verdicts came through, correspondent Poppy Harlow seemed more affected by the tearful reactions of the two teens.

She described the scene in the court as 'incredibly difficult, even for me, to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students, literally watched as they believed their lives fell apart.'

Both players were sentenced to a minimum of one year in a juvenile detention institution with the maximum stay of until they are 21.