Sexual assault is not just a women’s issue; it’s everyone’s issue, according to a motivational speaker who addressed a group of students at Skyline College on April 16, 2015.

Robert Hackenson went through a presentation on ways to prevent sexual assault called “Not Anymore,” urging men to take accountability for the problem. The crowd he spoke to however was mostly women, about half of whom were cosmetology students whose courses are in the same building that the speech was held in.

“Our culture pretty much enables it, and when I say our culture I mean guy culture,” Hackenson said to students. “When we’re sitting around with all of our friends and you hear somebody bragging about what they did or maybe they’re making those jokes and we laugh. We don’t necessarily agree with it but we’ll laugh.“

He spoke about feeling like he was in the minority when it comes to respecting women, associating it with being raised by his mother, grandmother and sister. It was later in his life when he realized other men didn’t agree with the way women were being talked about either.

“Instead of remaining silent, you need to be able to stand up and have that conversation,” Hackenson said during his presentation. “Maybe not even in that moment, but we need to be able to change that because if we don’t it will just continue.”

Despite the seriousness of the topic, Hackenson used optical illusions and card tricks to make his points. To demonstrate how differently information can be interpreted based on perception, he had the room of students raise their arms and move their hands clockwise while slowly lowering them to eye level and witnessing that their hands were actually moving counter clockwise.

“Things change based on how you look at them,” he said.

During his presentation Hackenson referenced to Title IX when talking about consent and the change from “No means no” to “Yes means yes.” He said that in order to have consensual sex both parties need to enthusiastically and verbally say yes, adding that alcohol inhibits one’s ability to give their consent, in turn making any inebriated sex rape.

Skyline College recently joined the district-wide campus safety survey asking students about their experiences with sexual assault on and off campus. This follows the recent SB 186, which would allow California community colleges the ability to discipline students for off-campus crimes, including sexual assault. The results of the survey are still being processed and will become public at the end of the academic year.

Skyline students who attended the event felt the call to action will carry with them causing them to think more critically about the way women are treated.

“It’s definitely something more men need to attend to because it is a big problem,” architect major Dylan Vasquez said. “I always had respect for women but I’ve been in a couple situations in which I could have done something but I haven’t, so it’s definitely something that will teach me to make a change.”

Jasmine Farrales, who attended the event along with Vasquez for extra credit in their health class, said she appreciated hearing about sexual assault from a new angle.

“I wish more men came, because it was a male speaker and usually speakers on sexual assault are women talking to women to make them feel empowered,” Farrales said. “But then when you have a male perspective, you just have a better idea of the issue because you have both sides.”

Hackenson also believed that dual viewpoints are important.

“I think a lot of guys don’t feel as though this is their problem and that’s how I start off,” Hackenson said. “If we’re looking at it we need to be able to see it from both perspectives, and I think guys need people to take a step up to the plate and help make that change in order to change that culture.”