KARMENIFE PAULINO: Rape culture isn’t just me, the victim and my attacker. It’s all
of you who see his behavior and don’t say anything. It’s all of you who see that I’m
too drunk to go home with anybody and you don’t stop me, it’s all of you who
see him abusing women and don’t go up to him and be like “yo, what are you doing” or
kick him out. It’s all of us.
ANTONIA HYLTON: Karmenife Paulino was raped in the basement of a fraternity, just two
months into her freshman year at Wesleyan University. She tried to repress it, but after
years of silence, Karmenife couldn’t take it anymore. She reported the rape
to campus administration her junior year.
PAULINO: It was such a dehumanizing process, and it could have been--it didn’t have to
be that way. It just seemed cruel.
HYLTON: With low reporting and conviction rates, sexual violence on campuses has become
a national epidemic.
A recent survey found one in four female students experience some
form of unwanted sexual contact before they graduate. And yet 80-percent of campus rapes
go unreported to the police.
JOE BIDEN: Too many men and women on and off college campuses are victims of sexual abuse.
HYLTON: With the leadership of Vice President Joe Biden, the White House is taking a stand
and engaging some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
You have been fighting violence against women for decades —
BIDEN: Yes.
HYLTON: and your current initiative, It's On Us, asks students and their peers to step
forward and speak out. Why is this your current approach to campus sexual assault?
BIDEN: I did virtual town meetings with a lot of colleges and students as well as high
school students, and I asked a question. I said, "If we could do anything to change the
circumstances on campus, what would it be?" I expected them to say, "More lighting, lighting
in parking garages, more campus cops." You know what the number one thing was?
Get men involved.
HYLTON: “It’s on Us” promotes bystander intervention, a strategy that encourages both
women and men to safely intervene in situations that look harmful to others.
So, I actually just graduated from college, not even a year ago, and that statistic that
one in four women will be assaulted during their time there always sticks with me.
But also that only 6% of college presidents right now acknowledge that rape is an issue on their campus.
BIDEN: That's right.
HYLTON: How do you react to that and what do you think explains that disconnect?
BIDEN: The disconnect is, they know it's happening. But they're afraid it will hurt their reputation,
their institutions, their competitive advantage. I'm about to call another meeting, have college
presidents come back to Washington, tell me what they're doing. Actually challenge them
not to show up. It's their responsibility. They have an obligation. This is a toxin on
This is a toxin
on college campuses. Universities can do something about it.
HYLTON: Advocates like feminist writer Jessica Valenti are pushing for more than just bystander
intervention. They want to focus on perpetrators and the cultures they thrive in.
JESSICA VALENTI: I think of bystander intervention as one piece of a really big puzzle. I also
am extremely concerned about this idea that we’re not getting to the root of the issue.
HYLTON: Let’s call them out. What are the elements of culture that allow rapists to flourish?
VALENTI: When we say things like, well she shouldn’t have been drinking, or he shouldn't
have been wearing that. When you set up this culture that blames victims instead of putting blame
on perpetrators, you’re giving rapists this sort of wiggle room to get away with things.
BIDEN: This culture of ours is upside-down. We’ve gotta change it. Where a woman no longer
ask the question, “What did I do,” or no judge ever says, “What were you wearing?”
It’s irrelevant.
HYLTON: Cultural change doesn’t happen overnight, but Karmenife is hopeful. Her rapist was eventually
expelled. And that’s a rare outcome. Now she plans to give other survivors, especially
women of color, the support she never received.
PAULINO: People need to know about how they really treat survivors because it seems like
this perfect place when you go there, but when something like this happens… it’s just...
HYLTON: Sexual assault can have lasting effects on survivors, especially when the fight for
justice falls on their shoulders alone. But as more students, professors and administrators
hold institutions and perpetrators accountable, there just might be enough societal pressure
to finally end rape on campus.