WATERLOO — Their message might make some people uncomfortable.

But the young men at Sigma Chi, a fraternity at the University of Waterloo, wanted to take a stand and encourage their male peers to speak out against sexual assault.

The group released a video which is posted on YouTube called Break the Silence. In it, members of the university fraternity condemn sexual assault and rape culture which exists on college and university campuses.

It's a powerful message, said Sigma Chi member and computer engineering student Dominic Aquilina.

"We are often labelled as crazy partying animals with no respect for women," he said.

"We are not like that at all. We believe in respect," said the 24-year-old UW student.

Aquilina said the fraternity released the video in the fall with the intention of helping their members.

"We don't claim to be experts. We want to educate ourselves and raising awareness in the community is a bonus. First and foremost, we are working on us and leading by example," he said.

In the video, they ask their male peers to take action and speak out when they see unacceptable behaviour.

"Taking action is calling out a friend when he says something inappropriate," said one man in the video.

"If there is no explicit communicated consent, it is sexual assault," said another student.

But Aquilina said some members felt uncomfortable with the group taking a stand on a controversial issue.

"It's not the message they had a problem with, but that we are taking a political stand," he said.

Aquilina said it's important for members to be educated on the issue of sexual assault in order to live up to the fraternity's expectations of good character and high moral values.

Denise Whitehead, assistant professor in the department of sexuality, marriage and family studies, said the men show courage by speaking out against sexual assault.

"In the video, they are asking young men to take responsibility for their actions and more importantly, not to be bystanders," she said.

Whitehead said by speaking out, the fraternity is showing that "young men can act with good intentions and teach each other to be gentlemen by reinforcing positive relationships."

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