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This guy’s disturbing group chat shows how easy it is for men to dismiss rape.

Four times, Brian typed out an honest response to send to his guy friends in their group text message. But he didn't share a single one of them. All four times, Brian — the fictional main character in a new PSA from the It's On Us campaign — caved before hitting send.

Brian's friends' convo began like many do after a night out drinking: reminiscing about what happened hours earlier.

"Morning," Dave began. "Everyone still with us?"

"Not sure Mike's girl is," Ed replied.

"Lol," Mike piped in. "Drunkest. Sex. Ever."

Brian decided to be frank. "Dude," he typed. "Hooking up with that girl was messed up." But then he thought twice, and deleted it. Instead, he typed out, "That was sexual assault or whatever."

He deleted that message too.

GIF via It's On Us/YouTube.

The disturbing conversation continued.

A pic was shared mocking one of the women Brian's friend slept with.

"Chick was trashed," Dave remarked.

"Ugh," Brian wrote, increasingly frustrated. "You guys are part of the problem." Again, he decided against sending it. He sent nothing instead.

"Who even was that?" Ed replied a moment later.

"That's the girl you raped," Brian wrote candidly — before deleting it again.

GIF via It's On Us/YouTube.

After all that, Brian went with a grimacing face emoji. The group laughed off the emoji, and quickly moved on to breakfast plans — as if the rapes never even happened.

It's scary to think Brian's friends dismissed the fact that Ed and Mike had assaulted women the night before. It's even scarier to think how often a conversation like that actually happens.

Maybe Dave and Carl were sitting alone debating if they should say something about the assaults too, like Brian had been doing. But neither of them did. Through their choice to stay quiet, every bystander encouraged the behavior.

But, research shows friends actually can make a big difference when they speak up about sexual assault. In 2014, NPR reported that evidence suggests a man is more likely to commit acts of sexual violence when he has friends who dismiss (or even encourage) it. The opposite is also true.

Peer pressure — for better or worse — makes a big difference.

"One of the things that matters most to boys and emerging adult men is the opinion of other men," John Foubert, a researcher at Oklahoma State University, explained to NPR.

That's an important distinction between other botched, victim-blaming efforts to curb sexual violence and the It's On Us campaign.

As its name suggests, It's On Us focuses on men.

We shouldn't be telling women to avoid short skirts and liquor in order to not get raped. We should be telling men and boys not to be rapists.

"Guys, if you know someone who's had sex with a girl who didn't or couldn't consent, it's on you to confront him," former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading voice of the campaign, said in the PSA's closing. "Fear is no excuse. You can help put an end to sexual assault."

Watch the PSA by It's On Us below:

Family

This woman destroys a wedding cake — and makes a point about sexual assault.

A PSA by the It's On Us campaign demonstrates just how absurd it is to blame survivors of sexual assault for their violators’ actions.

In the video, an admiring hotel guest wanders by a wedding cake — “It looks so delicious," she observes — before taking a huge handful of cake without asking the baker for permission. When the baker reacts, aghast, she blames him for making such a great looking cake.

"You were the one that made it so tempting," she tells him. "Tahitian vanilla icing and pretty little flowers? It's like you were begging me to taste it."

If that language sounds familiar, that's because it's something we hear all too often when talking about survivors of sexual assault. How was she dressed? Did she consume alcohol? Why wasn't she aware of her surroundings? Questions like these excuse violators and put blame on victims, adding to the stigma that can discourage survivors from speaking up.

It's On Us launched the PSA on the 23rd anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act. Written by then-senator Joe Biden, VAWA established a national hotline for victims to call, as well as greatly expanded the number of services and shelters available to survivors nationwide.

While the PSA is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, its message is a serious one. Victim-blaming prevents many victims of sexual assault from speaking out.

We have to do better.

In September, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced her department was rescinding Obama-era guidelines on sexual assault, giving more leniency to accused violators. Advocates against sexual assault argue the move shows the administration isn't prioritizing campus rape and sexual assault.

"[This] announcement is a threat to the progress we’ve made and to the rights of every student on campuses across the country," It's On Us said in a statement. "It’s On Us campaign remains committed to fight for the full enforcement of Title IX and for the rights and protections of every student and every survivor."

To get involved, visit the It's On Us website. If you need help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673.

From Your Site Articles

"No means no."

In typical Joe Biden fashion, the vice president didn't hold back when discussing sexual assault at the University of Pittsburgh.

But his impassioned speech in front of nearly 1,000 students on April 5, 2016, was especially candid — even by Biden's standards.

The vice president, who has championed the issue for decades, hit on several key aspects while dissecting the problem of sexual assault — a quiet crisis that's affecting nearly 1 in 5 college women. He also revealed how "stupid" he'd felt years ago after failing to recognize a key component in preventing the crime.

Here are three vital points Biden discussed on Tuesday:

1. Our legal system still blames the victims, and that's inexcusable.

“The legal system and the court of public opinion still allowed prosecutors to ask victims of rape, 'What were you wearing?’ ... This is not a joke. This is deadly freakin’ earnest, man. What difference does it make what a woman was wearing? ... No one, particularly a court of law, has the right to ask any of those questions."

Alcohol and short skirts don't cause rape. Rapists do. Yet court judges have been known to still focus on irrelevant factors that imply victims were either "asking for it" or unwise enough to put themselves in dangerous scenarios.

These arguments miss the point entirely and add weight to the idea that victims are partly responsible for their assaults. Rapists are the sole cause of rape — end of story.

2. We need to stop asking "Why didn’t you just leave?" and focus on supporting victims and survivors instead.

“Do you know the question I most often got [when I was trying to pass the Violence Against Women Act]? ‘Why didn’t she just leave?’ ‘Why didn’t she say something?’ … Imagine the courage it takes for a woman locked in the worst prison in the world, her own home, to be able to pick up the phone and call. Think of the courage it takes to say, ‘help me.’”

Leaving an abusive partner isn't as simple as walking out the door.

Many victims fear for their lives if they leave. They fear what will happen to their children or other family members. They're ashamed and afraid of how they'll be perceived. And the psychological effects abuse can have can keep a victim from believing he or she deserves better.

Leaving an abusive partner and asking for help is rarely easy and almost never as simple as it sounds.

3. It's absolutely necessary that men stand up against sexual assault too — something that wasn't always obvious to Biden.

“You know what stunned me? It made me feel stupid [that] I didn’t figure it out before. The overwhelming response we got back from young girls and women was 'Get men involved.'"

The overwhelming majority of sexual assault perpetrators are male. So why don't we demand more men understand this issue and fight to prevent it?

Biden teamed up with "Orange Is the New Black" and "How to Get Away With Murder" star Matt McGorry to drive this point home in Pittsburgh. The actor also spoke out about how men can be doing more to end this culture.

“How can we, as men, create a culture around consent and supporting survivors?” McGorry, an avid supporter of the White House's anti-rape initiative It's On Us, asked students on Tuesday.

Biden's inspiring speech won't cause change on its own. It takes all of us working together to make that change happen.

Promise not to be a bystander if you witness sexual assault by taking the It's On Us pledge. You can learn more about the issue and how we can promote positive change. And if you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, you can find help.