If you haven’t figured it out already, last week was the “It’s on Us Week of Action.” For those of you who are unfamiliar with the It’s on Us campaign, it is a nationwide initiative to stop sexual assault on college campuses. When it comes to sexual assault, there really is not much to argue about. Republican or Democrat, we still end up at the same place. No one wants sexual assault on campus. Regardless of who you are, we can all agree that sexual assault on campus must stop.
Even though we all agree with this common goal, sexual assault is still a problem on college campuses. In fact, one in five college-aged students will experience sexual assault. Without a doubt, the problem has not been solved, and we are not doing enough to stop sexual assault.
In order to help prevent sexual assault, the It’s on Us campaign asks college age students to sign a pledge in which they promise to stop sexual assault when they see it happening and to encourage students to get a clear “yes” from their partner before engaging in sexual activity. More than this, the campaign focuses on creating a college culture that does not allow for sexual assault. At University of Wisconsin, the Tonight program tries to do the exact same thing. It exists to educate college students on what sexual assault actually is and how to interrupt it if they see it happening. Along with AlcoholEdu, all incoming college students and transfer students coming to UW have to complete this program.
Traditional programs such as the It’s on Us campaign and the Tonight program seem to focus on education, prevention, intervention and providing resources to alleviate the problem of sexual assault. Basically, these programs are trying to change the college culture that allows people to get away with sexual assault. Even though these programs are necessary, many of us continue to wonder if these programs are enough since we still seem to have a major issue with sexual assault on college campuses. Perhaps everyone needs to take a second look at the problem of sexual assault.
One model that college campuses could look at for an example would be the bill signed by Gov. Scott Walker that works to eliminate the problem of domestic abuse. Yes, Walker still allocated millions to provide resources to eliminate domestic abuse, but he also increased funds within the Department of Justice to help prosecute those who commit domestic abuse.
Perhaps the movement to fight against sexual assault on campus needs to take a few ideas from Walker on how to deal with sexual assault. Instead of just focusing on the education prevention, intervention and resources, we should definitely put more resources into prosecuting those who commit sexual assault. Also, we should increase the penalties for those who commit sexual assault. If perpetrators start to realize how much they could lose if they do not get consent, then maybe the problem of sexual assault would continue to decline as a result too.
All in all, Republicans and Democrats agree for the most part on this issue. We all are working towards a common goal of ending sexual assaults on campus and creating a campus free of sexual assault.
