Several Iowa State organizations are pushing to end sexual assault and raise awareness to the issue through nationwide campaigns dubbed It’s on Us and Start By Believing.

Student Government and the Iowa State Police Department, among other groups, are involved with the It’s On Us campaign. This movement is used and supported by college campuses across the country.

April 2 to April 8 is the It’s On Us Week of Action, where supporters of the movement raise awareness around campuses.

The cultural movement began on Sept. 19, 2014, to change the way society views sexual assault. The movement focuses on involving society as a whole to take action against forms of sexual assault and taking responsibility to prevent it.

College campuses and fraternity and sorority houses are not the only ones involved in this movement. Many companies and organizations are affiliated with It’s On Us, from social media websites like Snapchat and Tumblr to governmental agencies like the White House.

It’s On Us ISU is a page on Twitter and Facebook controlled by Student Government that offers information and statistics to raise awareness on campus.

The mission statement of It’s On Us is “to recognize that non-consensual sex is sexual assault, to identify situations in which sexual assault may occur, to intervene in situations where consent has not or cannot be given and to create an environment in which sexual assault is unacceptable and survivors are supported.”

Two years ago, It’s On Us ISU created a video to show that Iowa State is a campus where sexual assault is not tolerated.

The Start by Believing Campaign is another movement that the Iowa State community is affiliated with.

Start By Believing, which began in April 2011 during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, advocates for the end of the societal stigma of sexual assault.

Its focus is on stopping the cycle of abuse that happens when a perpetrator continues to assault victims after a “failed response.”

The Start by Believing Campaign is credited to End Violence Against Women International.

Steffani Simbric, Sexual Assault Response Team coordinator, has been to conventions hosted by End Violence Against Women International, where she learns new techniques and tips to help survivors.

She stressed the importance of implementing these measures, especially using the Start by Believing campaign.

“I go to these conventions, then come back and actually do these things,” Simbric said.

The campaign includes four tips that people can use when discussing sexual assault with a survivor, whether it’s a stranger or friend.  

Its first tip is to start by believing, which is used to reassure the survivor that they are not being judged or blamed for their experience. The second tip is keep it simple, keep it supportive. This is to help support the survivor while they recount what happened to them.

The third tip is to avoid “why” questions, because those types of questions may sound like accusations and do the opposite of help. The final tip is to ask how you can help and to always let the survivor make the choice.

The Iowa State Police Department will host an event outside Parks Library on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The event is in honor of Start by Believing Day, and the department encourages students to come by and sign the Start by Believing pledge. The first Start by Believing day took place last year.

Student Government is also tied to Start by Believing and will have a table set up. It also plans to disperse the pledge on paper.  

Vice President-elect Cody Smith expressed how important it is to have awareness campaigns.

“Personally, I feel like every student here deserves the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe environment,” he said. 

On Tuesday, the Iowa State Daily hosted a panel event where Daily reporter and sexual assault survivor Jacey Goetzman, Smith and Simbric discussed the issue of sexual assault on campus.

During the panel, Smith discussed Start by Believing, It’s On Us and Big 12 Together sexual assault campaigns. 

“These awareness campaigns make it easier to talk about the issue,” Smith said. “They make it easier to normalize the discussion surrounding them.”

Goetzman, who shared her own sexual assault experience, said she wished that people would have the conversation about sexual assault and be able to correctly address the problem.

She pointed out an exemplified part of Start by Believing that asks students and community members to “… say I believe you.”

The Start by Believing campaign teaches the lesson to listen to the survivor because telling their account may be the only thing they want to do at the moment. This was Goetzman’s case.

“I just needed someone to listen,” Goetzman said, remembering when she first came to terms with her assault.

Smith added that he thinks a course about sexual assault should be created and required to be taken by all Iowa State students.

This idea is one that is shared by Simbric, who hopes to work together to move forward with this idea.

“If people don’t get the knowledge that it isn’t OK, you shouldn’t put your hands on somebody that does not want to be touched,” Smith said. “If they don’t get that in grade school or in high school, they should get it here.”

A required class would force students to be more involved and aware of sexual assault and how to handle the situation, whether it’s prevention or reaction.

Smith said the Title IX course is easy to click through, but a course like this would not.

The panel event was in correlation with a semester-long series by the Daily reporting on the various issues and components of sexual assault.