Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention

While April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, it's an important issue all year long. This year’s theme is “Step Forward. Prevent. Report. Advocate.” This is a call to action for individuals at all levels of the Department to use their personal strength to bolster prevention, increase reporting, and promote advocacy for a safer DOD Community.

The Military Health System and Defense Health Agency support these efforts and are also in a unique position of providing critical care to those who experience sexual violence. As we observe SAAPM this year, it’s a great opportunity for individuals within the MHS and DHA to highlight actions in support of prevention, reporting and advocacy, while also amplifying the key resources available throughout the Department and within the MHS for anyone who has experienced sexual trauma.

Messages for Communicators

Key Messages:

It is important to reduce the stigma around help-seeking behavior; disclosure of sexual assault or harassment is not a sign of weakness or failure, nor is seeking help to recover from the trauma. There is hope. There is support.
DOD is engaged in long-term, comprehensive organization-wide efforts to decrease incidents of sexual assault.
Someone may experience sexual harassment or sexual assault in several different ways:

The most subtle forms of inappropriate behavior on the continuum include sexual harassment consisting of verbal or written comments with sexual innuendo, or jokes.
Sexual harassment may include unwelcome sexual advances, repeated comments of a sexual nature and/or requests for sexual favors which make an individual uncomfortable and imply that rejection of this behavior will lead to negative work conditions or career impact.  
Sexual assault is intentional sexual contact characterized by use of force, threats, intimidation, or abuse of authority or when the victim does not or cannot consent. The term includes a broad category of sexual offenses consisting of the following specific UCMJ offenses: rape, sexual assault, aggravated sexual contact, abusive sexual contact, forcible sodomy (forced oral or anal sex), or attempts to commit these acts.

DOD educates, equips, and empowers leaders at all levels regarding the problem of sexual assault and provides support, policies, and tools to fight the problem.
The Military Health System offers a variety of health and wellness resources to assist patients who disclose sexual assault. The MHS Sexual Assault Forensic Examination (SAFE) program ensures the best evidence-based practices are implemented by all health care personnel in response to patient disclosures of sexual assault or harassment.
There are steps individuals can take to reduce and respond to sexual assault incidents in their communities:

Be an engaged bystander and look out for each other’s safety.
Offer help if someone is in a circumstance in which they don’t feel safe or don’t have complete control over themselves (for example, if they are intoxicated and need help getting home safely.)
Contribute to a culture that objects to sexual violence by speaking up when friends or colleagues exhibit inappropriate sexual behaviors.
Take action when you become aware of or are concerned about an allegation of sexual abuse or assault – perpetrators of sexual assault may repeat the behavior.

Report allegations to your commanders, supervisors, SAPR office, FAP, or law enforcement.
Call the DOD Safe Helpline – 877-995-5247 or visit https://www.safehelpline.org/.

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