This week, Nov. 8–13, is the It’s On Us National Week of Action, marking the one-year anniversary of the White House public service project aimed at ending sexual assaults on college campuses. “It’s On Us is a cultural movement aimed at fundamentally shifting the way we think and talk about sexual assault. It is a rallying cry, inviting everyone to step up and realize that the solution begins with us. The campaign seeks to reframe the conversation surrounding sexual assault in a way that empowers, educates, and engages college students to do something, big or small, to prevent it.” (It’s On Us campus organizing tool)

It’s on us—all of us—to stop sexual assault. Here are a few tips from It’s On Us as to what you can do to be part of the solution:

• Talk to your friends honestly and openly about sexual assault.
• Don’t just be a bystander—if you see something, intervene in any way you can.
• Trust your gut. If something looks like it might be a bad situation, it probably is.
• Be direct. Ask someone who looks like they may need help if they’re ok.
• Get someone to help you if you see something—enlist a friend, RA, bartender, or host to help step in.
• Keep an eye on someone who has had too much to drink.
• If you see someone who is too intoxicated to consent, enlist their friends to help them leave safely.
• Recognize the potential danger of someone who talks about planning to target another person at a party.
• Be aware if someone is deliberately trying to intoxicate, isolate, or corner someone else.
• Get in the way by creating a distraction, drawing attention to the situation, or separating them.
• Understand that if someone does not or cannot consent to sex, it’s rape.
• Never blame the victim.

What can you do at Drake University?

Take the pledge at http://itsonus.org/#pledge to help keep women and men safe from sexual assault.

What does the pledge look like?
I PLEDGE:
To RECOGNIZE that non-consensual sex is sexual assault.
To IDENTIFY situations in which sexual assault may occur.
To INTERVENE in situations where consent has not or cannot be         given.
To CREATE an environment in which sexual assault is unacceptable and survivors are supported.

Learn more about It’s On Us by stopping by our table at Hubbell Dining on Thursday, Nov. 12, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Familiarize yourself with Drake University’s It’s On Us public statement and other resources at www.drake.edu/sexual-assault/

—Submitted by Kathryn Overberg, Title IX Coordinator, Equity and Inclusion Policy Specialist