Weekly
Address: Taking Action to End Sexual Assault
The White House
January 25, 2014
Hi, everybody. This week, I called members of my Cabinet to
the White House to deal with a challenge that affects so many families and
communities – the crime, the outrage, of sexual violence.
Sexual assault is an affront to
our basic decency and humanity. And it’s
about all of us – the safety of those we love most: our moms, our wives, our
daughters and our sons.
Because when a child starts to
question their self-worth after being abused, and maybe starts withdrawing… or
a young woman drops out of school after being attacked… or a mother struggles
to hold down a job and support her kids after an assault… it’s not just these
individuals and their families who suffer.
Our communities – our whole country – is held back.
Over the past five years, we’ve stepped
up our efforts stop these crimes. And
this week, we took another important step to protect young women at
college. An estimated 1 in 5 women is
sexually assaulted at college – and that’s totally unacceptable. So I’ve created the White House Task Force to
Protect Students from Sexual Assault.
We’re going to help schools do a better job of preventing and responding
to sexual assault on their campuses.
Because college should be a place where our young people feel secure and
confident, so they can go as far as their talents will take them.
And we’re going to keep working
to stop sexual assaults wherever they occur.
We’ll keep strengthening our criminal justice system, so police and
prosecutors have the tools and training to prevent these crimes and bring
perpetrators to justice. We’ll keep
reaching out to survivors, to make sure they’re getting all the support they
need to heal. We’re going to keep
combating sexual assault in our armed forces, because when a member of our
military is attacked by the very people he or she trusts and serves with,
that’s an injustice that no one who volunteers to protect our nation should
ever endure.
Some of this is a job for
government. But really, it’s up to all
of us. We’ve got to teach young people –
men and women – to be brave enough to stand up and help put an end to these
crimes. We’ve especially got to teach
young men to show women the respect they deserve. I want every young man in America to know
that real men don’t hurt women. And
those of us who are fathers have a special obligation to make sure every young
man out there understands that being a man means recognizing sexual violence
and being outraged by it, and doing their part to stop it.
Perhaps most important, we need
to keep saying to anyone out there who has ever been assaulted: you are not alone. We have your back. I’ve got your back.
I’m going to keep pushing for
others to step up – across my administration, in Congress, in state capitals,
college campuses and military bases all across our country. This is a priority for me, not only as
President and Commander-in-Chief, but as a husband and a father of two
extraordinary girls. And I hope it’s a
priority for you. Because here in the
United States of America, every man and woman, every girl and boy, has the
right to be safe and protected and to pursue their own piece of the American
dream.
Let’s all do our part to make it
happen. Thanks, and have a great
weekend. |
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