Last week, colleges and universities across the country held and participated in events as a part of the White House’s second annual It’s On Us week of action. This initiative aims to shift the way we think about sexual assault, with a primary focus on college campuses.
To kick off this year’s week of action, It’s On Us worked with their partners at College Humor and released a public service announcement video with the purpose of drawing attention to the statistic that one in five women will be sexually assaulted by the time they graduate college. This video creatively stresses this alarming statistic along with the severity of these crimes by swapping out sexual assault for bear attacks: “What if bears killed one in five people?” The message here is that sexual assault is nothing to take lightly, so let’s take action.
Vice President Biden said at Syracuse University during his week of action tour: “Look at that young woman as if she were your sister or your mother. You know it’s wrong… Have the gumption to step in, tell him, expose him, save him.”
It’s On Us encouraged everyone to take action last week by participating in campus or organization events, share thoughts on social media with the hashtag #Itsonus, take the pledge, and to continue all efforts to stop sexual violence when you see it. This is a week that gets people talking, encourages action and creates awareness for It’s On Us and all their efforts in putting an end to sexual violence.
Learn more about It’s On Us here.
