Sexual assault is an incredibly relevant issue in the world today and especially on college campuses. That’s why IU’s Pi Kappa Alpha chapter is “Shattering the Silence” with their PSA video about the topic.
The video is about two minutes long and throws out a ton of statistics about sexual assault, and it calls for everyone to do their part in not committing sexual assault.
“Being able to prevent sexual assault is a process. It first starts with education," said Bill Phan, Pike's president. "We must inform each other about what it is, when it happens, how to prevent it and also what to do if a person were to ever become a victim."
"We made this video in order to educate our communities – the Greek community, the IU community and everyone else that we can possibly reach out to," Phan continued. "The second step is to use our knowledge on the topic to #ShatterTheSilence by just simply having those conversations. We all know that it is a sensitive topic, but if we cannot talk about it then we will not be able to prevent it. After educating each other and having these conversations, we can then make a positive difference all around us.”
Pi Kappa Alpha’s twitter account, @IU_Pikes, has been tweeting statistics every half hour all day to shatter the silence and start discussing sexual assault. Bill’s and Pike’s goal is “to have those who aren’t involved see it and wonder why this phrase is trending, thus creating conversations over the issue.”
When talking with Bill, I asked him why the issue was so important to him.
“I am incredibly passionate about this issue because I grew up in a house where it was just my sister and my mother," he said. "I always imagine how I would feel if this were to ever happen to any of my family or friends that are women, and that continues to motivate me to be an advocate for this issue.”
At a college campus with an incredibly high rate of sexual assault (like any other large university), it’s good to know that there are people out there taking the initiative to get the conversation going. Join Pi Kappa Alpha and #ShattertheSilence, so we can all start taking steps to eradicate sexual assault.
