There is one thing we must take from the Oct. 24 incident at Richmond High School outside San Francisco, an event that has shaken the national psyche toward sexual violence.

Don't be silent.

After a school dance, a 15-year-old girl was gang raped for 2-and-a-half hours by up to 10 people, with about 20 people involved in or watching the incident unfold. Amazingly, none of the bystanders stepped in to halt the rape as it unfolded.

Sexual violence is, unfortunately, a universal phenomenon that Penn State is certainly not free of. The university's eleventh reported sexual assault of the semester was reported Friday and was the fifth that occurred on campus. It is a sad truth to face, but at a school as large as Penn State, sexual violence is bound to happen. This is why it's all the more important for anyone who knows about an assault that took place to alert the authorities.

In college towns like State College, the issue of sexual violence should be at the forefront of citizens' minds. College towns, especially on the weekend, are awash in alcohol. According to the Coalition Educating About Sexual Endangerment (CEASE), a group run in conjunction with Ohio University, 75 percent of males and 55 percent of females who were students involved in acquaintance rape were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In addition, according to a study by the National Victims Center, 84 percent of women who are sexually assaulted or raped are attacked by men they already know, not total strangers. To make matters worse, CEASE estimates that only 16 percent of all rapes are reported to the police. This means an overwhelming majority of violent sexual acts are never made public to help others who may be in danger of suffering the same terrible fate.

This data is alarming, and it should be. And while women must keep it in mind, these statistics should also be used to alert men to the same issues. Sexual violence is not a problem for only one sex to deal with; it is one that must be understood and addressed by both men and women. After all, men are the perpetrators in an overwhelming amount of incidents -- they must lead the way to a safer culture.

Women and men alike must strive for safety, and one of the easiest ways to be safe is to travel in groups with trusted friends. For guys especially, this means keeping an eye on women you are with to ensure safety within the group -- just because most acts of sexual violence involve acquaintances doesn't mean those acquaintances are trustworthy. A fresh set of eyes can bring new perspective into a situation and keep a friend safe. Women, too, should not leave their friends to fend for themselves. It's a simple concept, but it could very well prevent sexual violence through simple presence and fresh perspective.

Unless we use these statistics to raise awareness of sexual violence, they will only be numbers on a page. We need to take these figures and find ways to improve them through civic action.

Anytime sexual violence is discussed, it is bound to make people uncomfortable; it is, by its very nature, a brutal deed and a hellish event for the victim. But despite the uneasiness sexual violence brings, we must have a culture where incidents are reported and the general public is alerted. The sensitivity of sexual assault victims, however, should not be forgotten; the privacy of victims must remain the most important facet of action against sexual violence.

Sadly, we will have to deal with sexual assault for the rest of our lives. But with enough effort put into educating young people, hopefully our world will someday see fewer incidents like the one at Richmond High.