We have all heard the lectures and statistics. We've been to program after program telling us that it is a real thing. We hear about it and see it on the media. We invite police officers and advocates to speak about campus safety in our chapter meetings. We make our students take online courses about it in order to even enroll in classes. We go out with friends and never leave anyone alone.
The problem is sexual assault.
Lady Gaga portrays the severity of this growing issue in her newest, and should I say, very graphic, music video "Til It Happens To You."
To make matters worse, sexual assault is extremely prevalent on college campuses.
"One in five women is sexually assaulted in college. Most often, it’s by someone she knows – and also most often, she does not report what happened. Many survivors are left feeling isolated, ashamed or to blame. Although it happens less often, men, too, are victims of these crimes. "
(The First Report of the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault )
But yeah, yeah, yeah we've all heard this stuff before, right? I myself have been lucky enough not to have experienced sexual assault. But I can't help but notice the growing cry of those who have or know someone who has.
According to this article , "95% of U.S. campus rapes go unreported." So not only is it happening, but victims are afraid to speak up or are told that they shouldn't. Believe it or not, some victims are event told it's not a big deal.
This is why Lady Gaga's video is so powerful. She co-wrote this song as a theme song for The Hunting Ground, a documentary shining light on the campus rape epidemic with true stories of women who have been convinced to stay quiet about their situations in order to maintain a good University brand image. Lady Gaga uses her crazy and out-there style to shine truth on the situation. Though it is graphic, it is real. We need things like this to show others the reality of the problem. It is, in fact, a big deal. And we should be encouraging victims to speak up.
We can blame fraternities. We can blame mental imbalances. We can even blame the victims. But the truth of the matter is, it is everywhere. And there are more people than we know experiencing it. So what are we doing about it?
Luckily, here at Kansas State University, our campus and our Greek community have taken steps in increasing awareness and prevention. Our CARE Office works every day in this pursuit. Most popularly, the Its On Us pledge. This pledge encourages proactivity regarding sexual assault and consent. Hundreds to thousands of K-State students have signed this pledge and continue to do so every single day. We have fraternity men who have taken a public stand against the issue and have made pledges of their own. Our Panhellenic and Interfraternity Council Directors of Risk Management have taken a stand by creating programming and teaming with the CARE office to raise awareness in the Greek community.
But it is still happening on campuses all over the nation. Whether you have been affected directly or not, I encourage everyone to watch and listen to Lady Gaga's new video and share it. We have to look out for each other and we have to encourage lives based on character.
The lyrics are clear:
Til it happens to you, you don't know how it feels
Til it happens to you, you won't know. It won't be real.
And though we can't experience the emotion and physical consequences of this situation unless it happens to us, it is still REAL. And we shouldn't wait til it happens to us to find out.
