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You know how when something really bad[br]happens, especially in the public eye,

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people talk about it. They get outraged[br]about it. They want to lift awareness for it.

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And then maybe a few days... a week... [br]a month later...

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No matter how much we said we should all[br]keep talking about this, we stop talking

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about this.

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Well, I don't want to. Some short years[br]ago it was disclosed that many youtubers

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were taking advantage of their position.[br]They were being abusive,

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they were harassing, they were assaulting.[br]In a couple cases, they were committing rape.

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And these disclosures brought about the[br]formation of an organization that is now

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called Uplift. Uplift! Uplift formed to[br]combat sexual violence online. As a

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part of that, they put together a safer[br]community pledge and requested that

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everybody take it. I have taken it the[br]first year, the second year, and now i'm

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going to take it for my third year. This[br]pledge does a good job, I think, of giving

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us some guidelines. And I'm happy to take[br]it again!

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I pledge that I will always prioritize[br]consent. I understand that consent is the

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presence of an enthusiastic yes rather[br]than the absence of a no and that

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consent cannot be given when someone is[br]asleep or physically or mentally incapacitated.

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I pledge that I will[br]respect my partner's wishes and that I

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will not pressure or coerce them into[br]doing anything that makes them uncomfortable.

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I pledge to stand with[br]survivors of sexual abuse or harassment

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by showing them compassion and respect

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I pledge to never blame the victim for any

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abuse they've experienced. Sexual[br]violence is never the victim's fault!

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I pledge to admit when I make mistakes and[br]to apologize for my actions. When someone

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tells me that I've done something sexist,[br]victim-blaming, or otherwise offensive, I

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pledge to be open to their words.

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I pledge to support conversations

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surrounding sexual abuse and harassment[br]in a way that is respectful of my needs

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and the needs of those i'm speaking with.

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And I pledge to create safer communities[br]both online and off.

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I've also been proud to help out uplift

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at the booths they've had at VidCon these[br]past couple of years. This year they made

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and i helped to give out these Con[br]Safety cards. I don't need to wait for another

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disclosure of an incidence of sexual[br]violence on youtube to still be opposed

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to it happening and to still want to[br]raise awareness for everyone that this

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is a dangerous thing that happens! Not[br]infrequently! Too much! Just this month i

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read a Mashable article about how one of[br]the victims of Tobuscus came forward and

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had to deal with the repercussions of[br]that. Just this week I retweeted the

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statement that you're more likely to[br]have your career hurt by reporting

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sexual harassment then by committing it.

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This is the world in which we live and[br]it sucks, but it's not going to get any

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better if we don't talk about it, or if we[br]don't admit that it's happening. I am

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aware and I admit that this platform[br]that I'm a part of, this YouTube

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community, is a place where (though I'm[br]happy to be here)

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it does have people committing heinous[br]acts. And I want everyone to be aware of

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it, not so that they are afraid, but so[br]that they know what to watch out for and

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so we can help each other to prevent[br]these things from happening more, and

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from spreading, and from continuing where[br]it's happening now. If you don't already,

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please follow uplift on Twitter or[br]Facebook or tumblr or youtube. I'll

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include links in my description. They do[br]good work. And if you also have a public

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platform where you can do this same[br]thing, I encourage you to also take the

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Safer Community Pledge if you haven't[br]yet, or if you want to take it again.

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That's my VEDA for today. Tell me what[br]you think about uplift's work and the

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Safer Community Pledge in the comments[br]below or tell me anything that matters

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to you because I want to know what[br]matters to you.

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And I really appreciate

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you watching all the way to the end of[br]this video. The end of my videos is where

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I always say:

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Tomorrow

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will be even better!