After the recent events surrounding the Cornell Seven and the woman at the center of that case, I have reached a point where I can no longer simply watch these situations unfold and accept them as another story that eventually disappears from the news. The allegations surrounding the 2024 Cornell case are horrific, and the criminal investigation has now been reopened after renewed public attention and a civil lawsuit. The prosecutor says the case will be presented to a grand jury. But here’s what I keep coming back to: It should not take national attention for a victim of sexual violence to receive serious consideration, investigation, and accountability. It should not take a viral story. It should not take celebrities speaking out. It should not take thousands of people becoming outraged. It should not take the entire country watching before institutions decide that someone’s suffering deserves their full attention. That is why I am declaring war on rape. No more mitigation. No more minimizing. No more treating sexual violence as an inevitable part of society that we simply have to tolerate. For generations, victims have been silenced, dismissed, questioned, and left to carry the consequences of someone else’s decision to violate their autonomy. That ends. This is a demand for reparations, not merely after an assault, but through changing the systems that have repeatedly failed to prevent sexual violence and protect survivors. And these are my ten demands: 1. Universal Consent Education Every student should receive age appropriate education about bodily autonomy, consent, boundaries, coercion, sexual violence, and healthy relationships. 2. Serious Investigation of Every Report Reports of sexual violence should receive serious, evidence based investigation and consideration regardless of wealth, status, popularity, occupation, gender, or institutional connections. 3. Survivor Support Without Barriers Survivors should have access to medical care, trauma informed advocates, counseling, legal assistance, emergency resources, and evidence preservation services without unnecessary barriers. 4. No Institutional Cover Ups Schools, universities, corporations, sports organizations, religious institutions, entertainment companies, and other organizations must not conceal sexual violence to protect their reputations. 5. Equal Accountability Money, fame, political connections, athletic ability, academic achievement, employment status, or institutional prestige must never determine whether sexual violence receives appropriate scrutiny. 6. Stronger Prevention Programs Governments and institutions must invest in evidence based programs designed to prevent sexual violence before it occurs, including consent education, bystander intervention, healthy relationship education, and education about coercion and grooming. 7. Accountability That Prevents Repeat Violence When someone is convicted of sexual violence, accountability should include appropriate legal consequences and evidence based interventions designed to reduce the likelihood of future offenses. The goal should not merely be to punish someone after another person has been harmed. The goal should be to prevent another victim from ever existing. 8. Protection From Retaliation People who report sexual violence should be protected from intimidation, harassment, threats, and academic or professional retaliation. Reporting abuse should never become another source of abuse. 9. Transparency From Institutions Institutions responsible for responding to sexual violence should provide meaningful, privacy protective information about how they handle reports, investigations, disciplinary processes, and prevention efforts. 10. A National Commitment to Eradication The ultimate objective should not be to simply manage rape as an unavoidable social problem. We should continually work toward its eradication through prevention, education, survivor support, accountability, and institutional reform. These are the demands. This is not about revenge. It is about consequences. It is about prevention. It is about making sure that the next person who reports sexual violence does not have to become a national story before somebody listens. This is not being asked anymore. These are demands. This is war against rape. And those who knowingly protect, conceal, enable, or obstruct accountability for perpetrators must face serious consequences through the justice system and be held accountable under the law for the role they chose to play. No more protecting reputations at the expense of victims. No more buried reports. No more looking the other way because the perpetrator is powerful, respected, wealthy, popular, or connected. We are not asking society to become more compassionate toward rape. We are demanding that society become intolerant of it. We are demanding prevention. We are demanding protection. We are demanding accountability. We are demanding reparations. And we are demanding a future where the fear belongs where it should have belonged all along, not with the person who says no, but with the person who chooses to violate that no. This is not a request. This is a declaration. And to be absolutely clear: when I say “war,” I mean a relentless, organized, nonviolent campaign against rape through education, prevention, advocacy, survivor support, lawful political action, institutional accountability, and systemic change. The war against rape begins with refusing to accept it as inevitable and refusing to stop working until the systems that allow it to flourish have been fundamentally changed. The declaration has been made. Now comes the work.