My positive experience at Joe Biden’s speech to end sexual assault on college campuses

I woke up at 7:30am. The event was at the Peterson Events Center and doors opened at 10:15, but we were told to get there early. By 8:15, I was the thirtieth person in line and ready to see my man, Joe Biden. I love Joe. He’s one of the only politicians I’d wait for two hours in 25-degree weather for.

I didn’t wake up at 7:30am to hear a speech about sexual assault. I woke up at 7:30am because I wanted to hear Joe Biden give a speech about sexual assault. And I’m fairly certain that most of the other people in line felt the same way. Because we all thought we understood sexual assault, right?

The doors really did open at 10:15. Not half an hour later, like they do at many other events. I gleefully situated myself along the first barrier that would divide Biden from the audience, a place in the crowd that hundreds of other students wanted. I was essentially a part of the first row.

However, before the event even began, it became evident that many people would not fit in the lobby. Of the over 1700 students that signed up for the event, only a thousand were admitted, and many of them left before seeing Vice President Biden step onto the stage. They cited poor views and upbeat, inappropriate music as reasons for their disgust. Many members of the student body saw the event as an “organizational disaster” and a “disgrace to the topic.” There was relentless outrage projected through social media outlets. But in the midst of the repugnance of some people and the apparent disarray, Biden’s message shone through.

After listening to esteemed speakers ranging from Mayor of Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto, to Governor Tom Wolf, and even the famous actor and liberal activist, Matt McGorry, the Vice President was set to take the stage.

His entrance was met with an energetic crowd, whose enthusiasm was echoed with claps and cheers. And then he began speaking. At first, he was lighthearted. He had a laid back, almost conversational presence. In this moment, he was no longer the Vice President of the United States. He was leveling with us.

He talked about his background in sexual violence outreach and prevention, which began long before he took office. He talked about how the topic of sexual violence became one of the forefronts of his first term, and about how he brought the topic to his second term. He talked about the decrease in domestic violence, down 63 percent between 1993 and 2012. He talked about how much he has worked to make the country safer, so that there are fewer victims of sexual misconduct. And then, he talked about how he failed.

Because sexual assault on college campuses has not declined since the beginning of his term.

“I was devastated,” he said. Everyone in the crowd was silent. You could see the photographers and cameramen and women taking a moment to look up and acknowledge what they had just heard.

“You’d think the last place you’d have to worry about dropping your beautiful son or daughter off would be at a college campus,” Biden said. “It should be the safest place in the world. The fact of the matter is, that fear is real. For too many parents that fear has been realized or will be realized.”

He recalled conversations with victims. A young female raped in a college dorm room. A New York model whose face was slashed by two men, after failing to comply with her landlord’s desires to have sex with her. A woman trapped in an alley, being trailed by a man who wanted to beat her to death. These were the stories. These were the stories of women who were defenseless from the destructive forces at work in this world, the nauseating forces of rape and assault.

The Vice President, now leaning on his podium, his mouth inches from the microphone, paused for a moment.

“Think of the courage it takes to say, ‘help me’.”

Those few words will forever be engrained, somewhere within me and the others that were in the crowd yesterday.

“Every nine seconds,” he said, “a woman is assaulted or beaten.”

These women were never able to ask for help. Whether it’s their abusive partner, watching them day and night or a lack of courage within them, they were never able to ask for help. However, through the “It’s On Us” campaign, the Vice President hopes to combat sexual violence and transform the country, specifically on college campuses, making them safer for those whose wellbeing would otherwise be in jeopardy.

Now, more than ever, men are being brought into the equation, which many people hope will cause a decline in sexual violence. The stigma, that such violence is a woman’s problem, is not justified. Like he said yesterday, this is a widespread cultural and societal problem.

We all think we understand sexual abuse. We’re experts, so we believe. What is there to comprehend? It’s wrong. We all know that. We think we know how to prevent it. We think we would step in for a friend who is being harassed. We think we’re aware of the effects, how it makes the victim feel, how demeaning it is. We all think we understand.

I thought I did. I knew the stats, knew people, mostly women, who were the victims of both short-lived and long-endured sexual abuse. I’m socially aware. Thought I was completely aware. Thought I knew this topic inside and out. Quiz me, I dare you. I thought I understood.

I didn’t. I still don’t, not completely. I have never been a victim. I have never been forced onto a bed. My legs have never been forced open, my clothes forced off. My eyes have never been the eyes of the victimized. I am a bystander, a passerby, looking onto a world where some people will never find safety from their abusers. We all think we understand, but we don’t.

So we need to fight for the people that do understand, who have firsthand experiences. We need to create a refuge for the victims, the survivors, some of the strongest people in the world. We need to make others aware, and we need to be the defenders of those who never had a chance to defend themselves.

This is the message that Vice President Joe Biden has worked tirelessly to promote. And despite the lack of organization within the event, this is the message that I was fortunate enough to receive yesterday.