A whole crew of celebrities came together to help the White House raise awareness around sexual assault in a new anti-sexual-violence PSA, as part of the White House's It's On Us campaign. The video — featuring Zoe Saldana, Josh Hutcherson, John Cho, Nina Dobrev, and other actors and musicians — is called "The One Thing," in reference to the one thing you can't have sex without: consent!
The timing of the video's release this morning is not a coincidence: Right now, when students head back to school, is the most dangerous time for sexual assault on college campuses.
The campaign is described on its Facebook page as "a rallying cry inviting everyone to step up and realize that the solution begins with us. It’s a declaration that sexual assault is not only a crime committed by a perpetrator against a victim, but a societal problem in which all of us have a role to play."
"It's On Us" is a larger anti-assault program started last year by President Obama and Vice President Biden. In addition to other calls to action and change by actors, the channel also features the president's anti-sexual-assault video that aired during the Grammy Awards.
It's great to see such high-profile people taking up the cause, but as the campaign reminds us — noting "one in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted in college" — there's a long way to go.