Vice President Joe Biden released a new video last week calling attention to the staggering statistics around dating violence and for an end to sexual assault on college campuses nationwide.

The video announced the launch of the White House sponsored ‘1 is 2 Many’ campaign – an effort to address sexual violence in schools. Students are encouraged to submit their own ideas about how to make campuses safer by Tuesday.

Biden has been known to take on a significant role in the advocacy for women’s rights, specifically when he authored the Violence Against Women Act, which was signed into law 17 years ago. After a visit to the University of New Hampshire on April 4, along with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Biden initiated a conversation about college and universities’ jobs to ‘better understand their obligations under federal civil rights laws to prevent and respond to campus sexual assault.’

His most recent ‘1 is 2 Many’ campaign takes the cake. The White House reports that 22 percent of college women have been victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse or threats of physical violence; one in five women have been sexually assaulted while in college.

Clearly, violence against women in general is a serious issue in the United States. But Biden is now focusing his attention on the violence and assault that takes place against young women – women like you and me.

The ‘1 is 2 Many’ website offers a number of resources and tools for people to use in an effort to combat sexual assault. The site is divided by the following categories: teens, young adults, parents, schools and community. This actively engages the entire nation in the awareness of violence against women and specifically addresses individuals within their own roles as Americans. Biden and the White House are sending the message that young people aren’t solely responsible for battling the rape culture on college campuses – a collective effort is necessary to achieve progress.

There is even an ‘Apps Against Abuse’ technology challenge on the website that is described as a ‘competition to develop an innovative software application that provides young adults with tools to help prevent sexual assault and dating violence.’

A significant male presence is essential to this movement. Instead of focusing on the victims and survivors of domestic violence and rape, society needs to start focusing its energy on the perpetrators responsible for rape in the first place. This is the exact kind of approach that needs to be utilized in battling the rape culture on college campuses.

Focusing on female victims, what they need to do to avoid assault and how they should be careful perpetuates victim blaming. Instead, Biden addresses the issue of the perpetrator and raises key questions about how to come up with authentic solutions to the matter at hand.

Of all the critical points to take away from the ‘1 is 2 Many’ website and video launch, Biden emphasizes a quote that he originally said at the University of New Hampshire in April. The vice president addresses a male, college-aged audience when saying, ‘No means no. No means no if she’s drunk or sober. No means no if she’s in the dorm room or the street. No means no even if she said yes first and changed her mind. No means no, no matter what.’

It’s encouraging to know that our government is dedicated to end assaults on campuses, but it’s equally important that students cooperate.

Submit your own ideas by using the Twitter #1is2Many or by visiting whitehouse.gov/1is2many.

Krystie Yandoli is a senior women and gender studies and English and textual studies major. Her column appears every Wednesday. She can be reached at klyandol@syr.edu or followed on Twitter at @KrystieLYandoli.