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Vice President Biden Marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Announcing It’s On Us Progress

April 23, 2015 at 1:00 PM ET by Stephen Spector
Summary: 
Vice President Biden is honoring April as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month by sharing an update on the Administration’s efforts to help combat sexual assault, especially on college and university campuses at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champion.

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“Violence against women is not a women’s issue alone. It’s a man’s issue as well… So to all of the guys out there—you have to step up. That’s how we can change the culture on campus and around the country to one that understands no means no.”

– Vice President Biden

Today at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Vice President Biden is honoring April as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month by sharing an update on the Administration’s efforts to help combat sexual assault, especially on college and university campuses.

President Obama and Vice President Biden have made it a national priority to root out sexual violence and assault wherever it exists, particularly in our schools. Last year, they launched a public awareness and education campaign called It’s On Us, which seeks to empower college students to respond effectively to sexual assault, and to prevent it in the first place. 

As part of the Administration’s ongoing effort to combat sexual violence, the Vice President, accompanied by actress Jessica Szohr of the new series "Complications," is traveling to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to recognize new It’s On Us commitments and progress, and the critical role that students at the University and across the country play in championing the It’s On Us mission.

By the Numbers: National Milestones

  • 200,000: More than 200,000 people around the country have taken the It’s On Us pledge, a personal commitment to help keep women and men safe from sexual assault.
  • 600: More than 600 It’s On Us events have taken place, including rallies, pledge drives, and campus dialogues.
  • 300: More than 300 campuses have hosted It’s On Us student-led campaigns.
  • 190: More than 190 campuses have created their own public service announcements.

New Commitments

It’s On Us now includes 75 non-profit and private-sector partners that focus on supporting the campaign using digital, television, and alternative strategies. Recent commitments from new partners include:

  • Funny or Die, a vertically integrated digital studio that creates hilarious content for social platforms, is working to produce creative content and celebrity engagement to create a culture where sexual violence is unacceptable. 
  • Pandora is teaming up with the It’s On Us campaign to spread the word about the importance of bystander intervention, by running a public service announcement that specifically targets 10 million men ages 18-22 on college campuses across the country.
  • USA Network will be commemorating National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month and highlighting the It’s On Us campaign during a special marathon of “Law & Order: SVU” on Sunday, April 26, which focuses on ending campus sexual assault.
  • Several Greek organizations, including Alpha Chi Rho, Alpha Kappa Lambda, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Phi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Sigma Psi Zeta, and Zeta Beta Tau have signed on as partners to the campaign and are working with their local chapters to get the word out about the pledge, host events and trainings, and film public service announcements.

Here are some of the other university communities, groups, and celebrities supporting It's On Us: