A few years ago, a friend of mine went to a party, and soon found herself being held up against the wall by her neck.

Someone had offered her a drink, and, because she had refused, he chose to force her to drink it, choking her “jokingly.”

Others watched as he tried to pour vodka down her throat. They stared or simply walked by as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening. After a few minutes, she kicked him hard enough that he let her go.

This is just one of the many real-life examples of sexual abuse that happen every day in this country.

While government officials spend countless hours trying to fight terrorism or wage wars overseas, they often forget — we all often forget — that we have a war going on right here in the homeland: sexual abuse.

Sexual abuse in all forms, from being forced to drink substances that impair judgment to being forced into sex, is taking its toll on the women of this country.

And until we address the reality of sexual abuse, we cannot stop it. Every two minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.

Every eight minutes, someone in the U.S. is raped.

One out of every six American women has been or will be victims of an attempted or completed rape.

Two thirds of all rape victims know their abuser.

I present these well-known statistics not to scare you, but to remind you that this silent problem does exist.

But maybe it should scare you a little bit.

I find this topic to be especially frightening, especially due to the fact that one out of every four college women will be sexually abused during her college years alone.

Another scary truth is rape and sexual abuse are usually inward problems.

Victims often do not discuss the incident with others or seek help or treatment. For a myriad of reasons, abuse is taboo in our culture.

Often, the victims are put to blame, by others or by themselves.

This must stop in order to fix this major problem.

There are signs that things are changing, and women and men both are reaching out to women in need.

Here at OU, student volunteers have male and female groups that are “advocates for sexual assault awareness.” These affiliates of the Women’s Outreach Center work to prevent sexual abuse before it happens and to help survivors.

Additionally, RAINN (the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) has established dozens of crisis shelters and information centers around the state. They recently set up an OU branch.

One of the first things they are doing is promoting a day of peace from abuse.

RAINN Day on Thursday, Sept. 25, will be a valiant attempt to say “enough is enough,” to bring awareness to the issue of sexual assault and to try to make at least one day sexual assault-free. RAINN groups on campuses across the country will participate.

But there is more you can do than just read about problems.

You can make sure your friends don’t end up going home with other people at a party.

You can refuse to tolerate sexually offensive jokes.

You can listen to a woman when she says no to sexual advances. If you are a woman, you can be the one strong enough to firmly say no and walk away with no regrets.

You can tell the guy holding the girl up against the wall to get the hell away from her.

For your mother, your sister, your girlfriend, your best friend and yourself, make the effort to end sexual abuse today and begin to make the world a safer place for women.

Rosie Sontheimer is a journalism sophomore. Her column appears every other Thursday.