Obama launches sexual assault prevention campaign on college campuses
The Obama administration has launched a national campaign aimed at combatting campus sexual assault.
The initiative calls on celebrities and athletes to mobilize college students, particularly young men, to speak up when they witness such vile acts.
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden unveiled the “It’s On Us” campaign at an event at the White House on Friday as part of an ongoing effort to curb campus sexual assault.
“The campaign seeks to engage college students and all members of campus communities in preventing sexual assault in the first place,” the White House said in a release.
The campaign’s website, ItsOnUs.org, features a video address in which Biden and Obama join actors including Rose Byrne, Mayim Bialik and Joel McHale; NBA star Kevin Love and musicians Randy Jackson, Common and Questlove in asking students to prevent assault.
“It’s on us to stop sexual assault,” says “Mad Men” actor John Hamm at the start of the video.
“To get in the way before it happens,” adds Kerry Washington, star of ABC drama Scandal.
The aim of the campaign is to involve college men by urging them to speak up if they see potentially harmful or inappropriate behavior, and to “shift the way we think about sexual assault by inspiring everyone to see it as their responsibility to do something, big or small, to prevent it,” according to the White House.
The campaign is backed by The Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank. The NCAA, Clear Channel, Viacom and student leaders from close to 200 organizations also support the program.
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