It’s on us to do more than “It’s On Us”

A conversation about sexual assault at Pitt is still just that — a conversation.

On Feb. 23, Pitt launched its second annual It’s On Us campaign to promote awareness of sexual assault and support survivors on college campuses. The event revealed an 800-foot chain of paper pledges from University members, and hosted guest speakers talking about sexual violence.

The project is part of the nationwide initiative President Barack Obama introduced in 2014 — an awareness campaign to put an end to sexual assaults on college campuses.

While the program provides guidance for messaging, it lacks force. And a year into the campaign, Pitt is still rolling out paper chains — but there is no word of any institutional action.

It’s On Us is well-intentioned and commendable for bringing awareness to the topic, but it is largely an empty gesture unless reform backs it up. It takes more than a pledge to stop sexual violence.

While increasing public awareness of the issue is a critical first step to combating sexual violence, it cannot end there. If universities truly want to fight against campus sexual assault, they need to make awareness programs a requirement. Schools must address how they handle sexual assault, not just rely on symbols to spread the word.

Last fall, the Association of American Universities Campus Climate Survey revealed 23.1 percent of female undergraduate students reported they had been sexually assaulted during their college experience. At Pitt, that number was 21 percent.

Shortly after, Pitt joined the It’s On Us campaign in response to the shocking results. Unfortunately, the program does little to combat the real issues surrounding sexual assault.

“This paper chain serves as a metaphor that the University community stands together against sexual assault and harassment,” campaign co-coordinator Topher Hoffmann told University Times at the chain’s unveiling.

Sponsored metaphors are great, but fully addressing assaults requires a deeper self-evaluation of policies.

The federal government pushed universities to change the way they address campus sexual violence in the 2011 “Dear Colleague Letter,” which introduced new regulations for how schools handle incidents. Primarily, it officially extended Title IX protections to sexual assault investigations.

This regulation raised expectations on colleges’ sexual assault practices.

But as of July 2015, the U.S. Department of Education reported that 126 universities were under investigations for possibly violating Title IX policies in their handlings of sexual assault.

Instances of mishandled cases include administrators discouraging victims from reporting, retaliation, insufficient disciplinary action, failure to enforce no-contact orders and more.

It should not take government action for universities to recognize the problem and deal with it effectively. Acknowledging that sexual assault happens on campus is bad for school image, but not supporting students is worse.

The uphill battle to make universities be public about sexual assault perpetuates the idea that victims’ experiences are not enough to validate change.

Under the Jeanne Clery Act, universities are required to report statistics regarding crimes that occur on campus and share the information with the public. At Pitt, there were nine reported rapes or sexual assaults between 2012 and 2014.

When studies suggest the numbers for campus sexual assaults are much higher, these low numbers should stun us.

One of the reasons so many victims do not report their assaults is the fear that administrators or authorities will not take them seriously. As a society, we need to eliminate these fears by doing everything we can to speak up about the issue and change the victim-blaming mentality we have of sexual assault.

It’s On Us takes this literally, but tangible action is necessary.

We need more active participatory programs, such as mandatory bystander intervention trainings. Preventing sexual assault shouldn’t be something you opt in to, or only have to go to as a first-year.

Universities have different reporting and investigation processes that can be difficult to maneuver for the victims. Universities need a single, standardized investigation process for the victim and the accused. This way, schools are accountable for unfair processes and victims know what to expect of the process.

Sexual assault is a federal crime and university responses should reflect that severity. According to a Huffington Post review of university and college data, only 30 percent of the students schools find guilty of sexual assault are expelled. Only 47 percent of them are suspended.

More sexual assault reports should lead to punishment in order to truly show zero tolerance.

Colleges can develop more educational programs to teach consent and reinforce Pitt’s definition of consent. Students should know as soon as they enter college what conduct is expected of them.

Required information sessions on Pitt’s sexual assault resources and processes would ensure that everyone is both knowledgeable about the problem and equipped to deal with it. I applaud universities for bringing attention to the cause with It’s On Us, but there needs to be administrative action.

Changing insufficient policies shows more solidarity with victims than a public awareness campaign.

We need to act and combat rape culture with extensive policy efforts. We need consistency, transparency and education involved in our initiatives.

After all, it’s on all of us to do better.

Kirsten Wong primarily writes on social justice issues and education for The Pitt News.

Write to her at kew101@pitt.edu