Taking Action to End Sexual Assault

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly Address

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.