April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, meaning that there will be many events to both lift up the voices of survivors of sexual violence and to raise awareness of the topic in general.

These discussions, though they are difficult to have, and survivors’ stories, though they might be hard to hear, are still needed and valuable.

Though there has been much progress made through movements such as #MeToo, there is still a long way to go.

People are still victim-blamed and shamed when they speak up about sexual assault, whether they are talking about their own experiences or the experiences of others.

We all as a society need to realize there are no excuses for sexual assault.

We also need to realize that it won’t go away if we turn a blind eye to it and pretend it doesn’t happen.

Sexual assault (and harassment) happens on our college campuses, more than we’d like to realize. It happens in our workplaces.

It happens to people of all ages, races, genders and sexualities.

Unfortunately, many times, instances of sexual assault and violence are higher in marginalized and underrepresented communities.

Events like “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” raise awareness as well.

The fact that so many community members and students are willing to put themselves out there to let people know sexual assault will not be tolerated is heartening.

Likewise, campaigns such as “It’s On Us,” where organizations on campus sign petitions and make videos letting other students know that it is our responsibility to end the epidemic of sexual violence, are informative.

Hopefully, people will start to realize that we need to stop being bystanders in situations where sexual violence is occurring.

If we start to take it upon ourselves to end the culture that says it’s OK for people to assault others based on what they are wearing or what they are doing, we can take steps to end the epidemic of sexual assault.

We need to make it known that sexual assault is unacceptable in all forms.