MADISON (WKOW) -- The National Institute of Justice reports as many as 95 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses go unreported.
University of Wisconsin-Madison is taking action to prevent sexual assault from happening in the first place with a new interactive, online program.
It is essentially a web page full of resources paired with a video that all incoming freshman are expected to watch.
"What people fail to see is sexual assault is very real problem on college campuses, as is dating violence," says Carmen Hotvedt, a violence prevention specialist at UW-Madison.
One in five college women will experience sexual assault by the time they graduate, according to the National Institute of Justice.
Hotvedt is working to help UW-Madison students change that.
"Tonight" is an online program to teach first-year students the red flags of sexual assault and empower them to speak up.
The video defines sexual assault as any sexual contact without consent, and it is not consent if the person is drunk.
Unlike the program the school used before, this is tailored specifically to UW students.
All freshmen are expected to watch and participate in this 40-minute, interactive video.
Kelly Anderson with the Rape Crisis Center in Madison says the program helps dispel a common misconception about where the threat typically comes from.
"It is not strangers in a dark alley you need to be afraid of but other college students, people you see in class."
Anderson says having the program at the university helps educate those most at risk—women, ages 16 to 24.
"It is a really powerful opportunity to change the dialogue, but I think we have a long way to go," Anderson says.
While students are expected to watch the video, it's not necessarily mandatory. There is no means of enforcement in place right now, but that's something organizers are working on for the future.
