Vice President Joe Biden issued a stern message to college students as they prepare to head back to campus for the start of the school year.
In the video, posted on whitehouse.gov, Biden urges college students to work together to put an end to violence against women.
He says one in five young women will be the victims of sexual assault while they are in college.
“You don’t know these women as statistics,” said Biden in the video message. “You know them as classmates, as your friends, as your sister, the person you study with, the person you hang out with.”
He urges all students to intervene if they learn of a women being abused. The vice president said that there is no such thing as an innocent bystander when it comes to the abuse of women.
He also said violence against women has gone down by 50 percent since 1990, but it has seen an increase lately in the category of teens and college women.
He encouraged students to offer feedback on his “1 is 2 many” campaign, including via Twitter with the hashtag #1is2many.
Biden ended the video with a direct message to the country’s young men and the role they play in ending violence against women.
“Be a man. Step up. It could be your sister,” Biden said. “It’s your obligation.”
