“Violence against women is not a women’s issue alone,” Biden said in the press release. “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.”
With the It’s On Us ?campaign, President Obama and Biden have made it a national priority to root out sexual violence and assault wherever it exists, especially in schools.
It’s On Us was launched last year and seeks to ?empower college students not only to respond effectively to sexual assault but also to prevent it in the ?first place.
It’s On Us was launched in partnership with student body leadership from ?almost 200 colleges and ?universities across the country, collegiate sports organizations, including the NCAA, and private ?companies.
In the release, Biden ?announced new It’s On Us initiatives with websites Funny Or Die, Pandora, USA ?Network and various greek organizations.
The initiative has partnerships with 75 non-profit and private sector businesses across the nation.
It’s On Us is a part of the administration’s ?approach to combat sexual assault through the work of the White House Task Force to Protect Students from ?Sexual Assault.
The Task Force was established by Obama on Jan. 22, 2014, and is ?co-led by the Office of the Vice President and the White House Council on Women and Girls.
On April 29, 2014, the Task Force released its first report, “Not Alone,” which included recommendations, action steps and policy templates to help ?colleges and universities better address the problems.
IU-Bloomington utilized a copy of the Not Alone ?Climate Survey, in addition to MIT health surveys, to guide the process of creating a baseline survey that was distributed via email during the fall 2014 semester.
“We identified that this was a need on campus,” said Leslie Fasone, IU Assistant Dean of Students for Women’s and Gender Affairs.
The November survey had an initial response rate of 23 percent. The ?Center of Survey Research has cleaned the data.
Dr. Justin Garcia and ?Fasone are in the process of working with colleagues to analyze the data.
“Right now we’re looking through the data and we’re working on a public report to be able to say, ‘Here’s the scope on campus, here’s the scope of the issue,’” ?Fasone said. “And using that to identify where we ?go next.”
The results from the ?survey will provide baseline ?information that could hopefully provide indication of where to target ?prevention initiatives, ?Fasone said.
“It can provide some context of where to go,” ?Fasone said. “Our plan is to be able to use that information to develop and enhance prevention and response initiatives at IU.”
