Of particular salience in the dialogue across the country is the issue of sexual assault – whether on campus, in the military, directed at LGBT people, etc. The recent launch of Lady Gaga’s song “Till It Happens To You”, co-written by Diane Warren, is yet another vehicle driving discussion around this topic. Here are five ways that celebrities, activists and ordinary individuals across the country are combatting and raising awareness about sexual assault.

Pop culture as a platform

Lady Gaga’s music video for “Till It Happens To You” serves as a Public Service Announcement (PSA) for the issue of sexual assault and raising awareness about its victims. The song was co-written with acclaimed songwriter Diane Warren and produced for the documentary The Hunting Ground which assesses campus rape across the U.S. The video features several instances of sexual assault and shows how the victims are able to cope, seek support and find survive such a traumatizing experience. Lady Gaga is an example of how celebrities can use their spotlights and platforms to connect with millions of people, help raise awareness about rape culture on college campuses and sexual assault, and provide encouragement to those who have faced it.

Take a pledge, change the conversation

As a star athlete and one of the top football recruits in the country, Jerome Baker was a leader on his high school football team, at his high school, and throughout his community. Driven by a desire to rebuild the reputation of his fellow athletes and to change the conversation around sexual assault and rape in his community, Jerome decided that he would make a pledge to end violence against females. Not only did he pledge to do so, but he encouraged and recruited athletes in his community to sign on as well. From making phone calls to talking about the pledge in the gym, Jerome was able to recruit over 100 high school athletes in his area to join him. He is an example of how a leader at any age and at any level can change the conversation and encourage young men to step up, act responsibly and promote respectful behavior.

#SayHerName, tell her story

Janet Mock is an author, TV host, activist, trans woman, and a whole lot more. On a recent episode of Melissa Harris-Perry’s MSNBC show, Mock used the opportunity presented to her as a guest host of the show for a night to highlight a particular issue regarding sexual assault – and that is the prevalence of violence against trans women, and trans women of color in particular, by naming all of the trans women who had been murdered in hate-motivated crimes in the past year. That number unfortunately has increased in the days since Mock’s segment on MSNBC. The Human Rights Campaign and the Trans People of Color Coalition published a report that similarly names all trans murder victims in the U.S. Mock’s naming of these victims reinforced that they aren’t a statistic, they’re people and should be treated that way.

Tackling institutions

As a U.S. Senator from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand has taken up the mantle in Congress for reforming how the military investigates and prosecutes allegations of sexual assault. She has fought tirelessly, introduced legislation, reached out to members of both political parties, held hearings and, in doing so, has helped raise sexual assault to prominence in the national discourse. In a political institution that is often unable to come to a decision on many issues due to partisanship, Gillibrand was able to get Republicans and Democrats alike to back her proposal. While ultimately unsuccessful in seeing her reform included in the final military funding bill, she nonetheless took on the massive institution that is the U.S. military and brought the topic of military sexual assault to the front and center of political and social discourse.  And she’s not giving up, as she reintroduces her legislation and keeps up the work to see her reforms come to fruition.

Taking a stand and making people listen

As the now-famous “mattress girl,” Emma Sulkowicz has been fighting for justice since her sophomore year of college after university officials mishandled her and other students’ reports of being sexually assaulted by a fellow student. In order to bring attention to the university’s handling of her situation and to make students, faculty and administration listen to her story, she chose to do her senior thesis in the expression of performance art by carrying her mattress with her everywhere on campus. She is an example of yet another individual who has brought the issue of sexual assault, particularly on college campuses, to prominence. Her protest piece refuses to let her community forget about her assault, and allows her to take a stand as a victim and not be silenced.

Our mission at Born This Way is to support the wellness of young people and part of that mission involves having difficult conversations about difficult topics. Lady Gaga’s new song, “Til It Happens to You” is now available on Apple Music  and shines the light on a very important problem: campus assault and rape. The song, written by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga contributed to a film called The Hunting Ground, documenting campus assaults and rapes that have been an age-old problem, yet one that has not been openly discussed.  You can watch the PSA directed by Catherine Hardwicke on Vevo (A portion of proceeds from the sale of the song will be donated to organizations helping survivors of sexual assault). “’Til It Happens to You” aims to open up the conversation about campus assault and rape.

Here are some of the research facts about campus assaults/rapes:

• While sexual assaults are under-reported, a recent study suggests that 1 in 5 young women have been sexually assaulted on college campuses.
• In a 2004 study of women raped on college campuses, 72% of the women were raped while intoxicated (Mohler-Kuo, M., Dowdall, G.W., Koss, M.P., & Wechsler, H. (2011). Correlates of rape while intoxicated in a national sample of college women. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 65, 37-45).
• While the statistics on campus assaults are scary, there are prevention and intervention programs that can help.
• An online intervention program, “Take Care,” was found to increase bystander intervention behavior when witnessing campus violence by teaching students what to do and where to seek help (Kleinsasser, A., Jouriles, E.N., Mc Donald, R., & Rosenfield, D. (2015). An online bystanders intervention program for the prevention of sexual violence. Psychology of Violence, 5, 227-235).
• University campus health centers provide campus leadership, education, and mental health services regarding campus violence. Check out the CARE program at the University of Maryland:  and the PREVENT program at the University of Nebraska.
• Fortunately, increased awareness of campus assault and rape has led to increased programming to prevent violence.

Despite the increased research in this area and increased public attention to this very important topic, many campus assaults go unreported. We want to change this statistic by empowering everyone to SPEAK OUT AGAINST VIOLENCE.

What can we all do?

1. Create a buddy system. Don’t go to a party alone. Make sure someone is there to watch out for you and to make sure that you get home safely.
2. Identify a designated friend who won’t drink at the party and who will be responsible for making sure you’re okay. Do the same for your friends.
3. Know that drinking/drugging are risk factors for assault and violence. Think before you take a drink/do the drug.
4. Bring your own water and/or your own drink. Don’t put your drink down or give it to someone you don’t know.
5. Be wary of strangers—people who are charming and who want to get to know you quickly are most likely the people whom you should be worried about.
6. Be a good friend and stick with your good friends.
7. Have conversations with your friends about safety. Create a safety plan.
8. Don’t walk alone at night. Most campuses have escort programs and campus police who can help if you’re alone.
9. Consider carrying pepper spray on your keychain.
10. Find campus supports at your campus counseling center. Get involved with domestic violence and assault resources in your community.

It is brave to seek help and we want you to know that there are many supports for people who have experienced assault in all forms. You are brave – stand up and use your VOICE to seek support for yourself and others.

With Gratitude,
Dr. Sue