I shouldn’t have to fear walking down a street at night, but I do.

I shouldn’t have to feel scared if a guy passes me on the street and makes a crude remark, but I can’t help but feel a paralyzing fear rush through my body every time that happens.

So often we feel as though the fear of what will happen controls our ability to speak up as a bystander or a victim.

But, when one person every 98 seconds is sexually assaulted — being paralyzed by fear isn’t an option.

When victims are left cowering in their rooms asking themselves what they did wrong while the perpetrators are still out there roaming the streets, we can no longer remain silent.

63 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police—that means that nearly two-thirds of sexual assault cases stay outside of the legal system. As a result, the perpetrator will receive no punishment. The victim, however, will still go through the aftermath of being sexually assaulted regardless of whether or not the case was brought into the legal system.

You can’t undo sexual assault. It’s not like when you drop someone’s plate, and it breaks, so you apologize and say, “Oh, let me buy you a new one.”

Once you break someone from sexual assault, the damage is permanent. You can’t just go out to your local Wal-Mart and buy something that will make them forget that it ever happened.

Campaigns like It’s On Us have made strides towards changing the conversation about sexual assault, but it’s one thing to take a pledge and say “It’s on me” and another thing entirely to actually stand up and say “It’s on me.”

Taking a pledge to stop this epidemic won’t mean anything unless you actually become an active voice against sexual assault because it’s very easy to say “Yes, I’m going to do this” and then continue to hide in the background.

Former Vice President, Joe Biden, has actively spoken about sexual assault stating, “We’re trying to let young men understand that without consent, meaning saying yes, it is OK to touch me, yes it is OK to pull me into this bed, yes it is ok to have intercourse with me, then it is not consent. If a young woman is drunk, SHE CANNOT CONSENT. She cannot consent, and it’s rape. It’s rape. It’s rape. It’s rape.”

“She didn’t say no” is not a valid argument. Unless you hear the words “yes” come out of her mouth, and mind you, she is in a completely sober state—the answer is no.

No, no, and no. One word. Two letters. All the power in the world.

It’s truly on us to step up and change the conversation about sexual assault, and it all starts with one simple word: no.