For many people, safety is not a choice—it is a constant calculation. This article explores how the burden of preventing violence is often placed on those most impacted, and why real prevention requires shifting responsibility away from individuals and toward the behaviors, systems, and norms that allow harm to continue.

After listening to students share honest insights about safety, consent, and campus culture, DARCC is taking action. This next phase focuses on strengthening peer support, building real-world bystander intervention skills, bringing prevention into under-engaged student spaces, and making survivor support more visible and accessible. Here’s how we are turning student voices into meaningful change.

DARCC’s A2A Outreach and Education interns asked students what it truly feels like to navigate college life where sexual violence is possible but rarely discussed openly. Their responses reveal honest insights about consent, peer support, silence on campus, and the emotional realities students face. This first installment explores what students shared—and why their voices matter.