TW: Sexual assault. The allegations surrounding the “Cornell 7” are horrifying, but the larger conversation cannot begin and end with one case. Sexual assault remains a pervasive reality on college campuses and across the country. Survivors are assaulted by strangers, classmates, friends, partners and people they trusted. Many never report what happened. As a domestic violence shelter, we know sexual violence does not exist in isolation. It is often rooted in the same dynamics we see every day: power, coercion, entitlement and the violation of another person’s autonomy. Consent must be freely and actively given. Someone who is incapacitated cannot consent. Being intoxicated is not an invitation. Knowing someone is not consent. Going to a party is not consent. Previous sexual contact is not consent. And when sexual assault happens, the burden should never be placed on the survivor to explain why they drank, why they went somewhere, why they froze, why they did not immediately repor...