“It’s on Us” to Prevent Sexual Assault
On Sep. 19 of 2014 President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden began the “It’s On Us” campaign that focuses on the issue of sexual assault. This campaign primarily deals with inspiring U.S. citizens to help those who have been through sexual assault and to prevent situations where this could happen. Recently, on Sep. 1, 2015, “It’s On Us” released a Public Service Announcement (PSA) titled “The One Thing” featuring a star studded cast including Josh Hutcherson, John Cho, and Zoe Saldana who define the difference between rape and consensual sex. They join the long list of supporters who have pledged to end sexual assault on college campuses. Since the release of the PSA almost 220,000 people have signed the pledge on the “It’s On Us” website. In over 300 schools last year college students have started campaigns and more than 650 “It’s On Us” events.
“The One Thing” is the third PSA released by the campaign. The first, titled “It’s On Us: Sexual Assault” discussed how it is on the community to help change the culture surrounding sexual assault, to stand up and stop it when someone sees it happening. In the other video “It’s On Us: Bystander” the campaign depicts a person getting up to interrupt a possible sexual assault scenario. The purpose of the PSA is to challenge the public with a visual way of how to stop sexual assault. All three of these PSA’s can be found on their youtube channel youtube.com/ItsOnUs.
This campaign comes at a very important time. Sexual assault is becoming a bigger issue across the country with many different campaigns from the “No More” campaign (featured last year by Nikki Melanson ’15), to the “Clothesline Project” hosted by Women In Need (WIN) and ResLife annually. Last year Wilson had students from the men’s basketball team don a pair of high heels and participated in the “Walk a Mile In Her Shoes” event in downtown Chambersburg. On Sep. 25 at 8pm in the Science Center, ResLife is hosting Sexual Jeopardy, a program focusing on Sexual Assault and procedures through Wilson College’s campus of reporting and requesting assistance. For more information on the “It’s On Us Campaign” or to sign the pledge go to itsonus.org.
If you have been sexually assaulted or know someone who has, you can go to the Campus Safety Website to file a Sexual Misconduct form, contact WIN at win services.org, and you can talk to the Counseling Department, Cindy Shoemaker at cindy.shoemaker@wilson.edu.