White House Public Awareness Campaign Aims to Prevent Campus Sexual Assault
10/02/2014
On September 19, President Obama and Vice President Biden launched "It's On Us"—a new public awareness and education campaign to end campus sexual assault through bystander intervention. Created to change how people think about campus sexual assault and engage college students and members of campus communities in prevention efforts, "It's On Us" calls on colleges and universities to implement bystander education and training programs to help raise awareness and provide skills to help bystanders intervene safely and effectively.
In addition, the campaign advocates for everyone on campus to create an environment where sexual assault is unacceptable and survivors are supported.
The "It's On Us" website is a resource that provides videos and organizing tools for colleges and universities, and allows individuals to take a personal pledge to help keep women and men safe from sexual assault.
Ongoing White House Initiatives
After the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 (VAWA) was signed into law on March 7, 2013, the White House has been committed to combating sexual assault on college campuses and has taken a multifaceted approach to the issue.
Earlier this year the administration announced the creation of the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. The task force, responsible for coordinating a federal response to campus rape and assault, released its first report, Not Alone, in April. The report provides colleges and universities with a list of recommendations and best practices for prevention and response related to sexual assault.
In January, the White House Council on Women and Girls released Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action that analyzed data about rape and sexual assault in the United States and identified upcoming initiatives by the Obama administration to protect women and girls.
VAWA Implementation
Even though the Department of Education's final regulations are expected to be issued by November 1, institutions were required to make a "good faith effort" to update annual security reports to reflect current policies and procedures it will follow when incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking are reported. New annual security reports should have been issued by October 1.
