Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE

President Obama is launching a new initiative that will focus heavily on combating sexual assault on college campuses. This epidemic has plagued millions of Americans, but has barely been able to get any major attention, especially in the White House–until now. President Obama is planning to sign a memorandum that will create a task force to fight college sexual assaults. It’s being reported that Obama is giving the task force of administration officials 90 days to come up with recommendations for colleges to prevent and respond to sexual assault, increase public awareness of each school’s track record and enhance coordination among federal agencies to hold schools accountable if they don’t confront the problem.

Must Read: Nearly 2.2 Million Americans Sign Up For Health Care

President Obama’s involvement in this taboo topic is refreshing and helpful is leading a cultural shift of men speaking out on the issue. According to President Obama’s senior adviser and chair of the Council on Women and Girls, Valerie Jarrett, “The president is committed to solving this problem, not just as president of the United States, but as a father of two girls” who will soon be heading to college.

According to a White House report called, “Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action,” only 12 percent of woman who are sexually assaulted report their attack to the authorities. One in four women in America will be a victim of sexual assault. President Obama says that the college woman is one of the biggest victims of sexual assault and with cases like Steubenville and Maryville (not to mention the countless unreported ones just like it), there’s no wonder why young women are hesitant to report said crimes. Many of these cases get swept under the rug.

The White House report also states that nearly 22 million American women and 1.6 million men have been raped in their lifetimes, with victims more likely to suffer from depression, substance abuse and a wide range of physical ailments, including chronic pain and diabetes.

The report also declares:

  • The criminal justice response to sexual assault is too often inadequate and lays out a goal of increasing arrest, prosecution and conviction rates without any specific targets.
  • There is a police bias and a lack of training to investigate and prosecute sex crimes for low arrest rates and says the federal government should promote training and help police increase testing of DNA evidence collected from victims.
  • There is a wave of sexual assault in the military and President Obama gave the Pentagon a year to better prevent and respond to the crime within its ranks or face further reforms.

President Obama is shifting the controversial topic of rape and hopefully this is the start of women no longer being afraid to report these crimes and men being unashamed to be a part of the conversation.

What do you beauties think about this new imitative?

LIKE HelloBeautiful On Facebook!

Related Stories:

President Obama Addresses Race: Some People ‘Really Dislike Me’ Because I’m Black

BEAUTIFUL NEWS: President Obama Nominates First Black Lesbian Judge In 20 Years

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.