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.
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