Though he’s no longer in the White House, former Vice President Joe Biden is using his voice to amplify an important message about sexual assault. 

On Tuesday, Biden tweeted an ad created by the agency Mekanism, in conjunction with Civic Nation’s It’s On Us campaign, that broke down the problematic way some men casually speak to one another about sexual assault. 

Riffing on the iPhone’s autocorrect function, the ad broke down the coded language that is often used, mostly by men, to cover up sexual assault. 

Take action: Tell World Leaders to Redouble Their Efforts By Amending Laws to Prevent Sexual Violence

“So I took her up to my room,” one of the texters says. 

“Nice. Get some?” the other responds.

“Well I had to encourage her a bit,” the first says, to which the autocorrect function suggests the implied word “force,” rather than the coded word, “encourage.”  

Accompanying the post, Biden wrote: “The correct word for sex without consent is rape. Period.”

According to the It’s On Us campaign, one in five women is sexually assaulted in college, the large majority of which occur in the first two years by a known aggressor. 

Aimed at creating awareness of sexual assault on college campuses, the It’s On Us campaign began in 2014. 

Read more: The Critical Message Joe Biden Is Bringing to ‘Law & Order’

“For anybody whose once-normal, everyday life was suddenly shattered by an act of sexual violence, the trauma, the terror can shadow you long after one horrible attack,” former President Barack Obama said at an event for the campaign’s launch. 

Since leaving the White House, Biden and his foundation have continued to campaign against college sexual assault. He’s leading the way with more than just words, and bringing awareness to one of the nation’s biggest unspoken issues. 

News

Demand Equity

Joe Biden Shared a Powerful PSA About Sexual Assault That Everyone Needs to See

By Phineas Rueckert