Sound Off: Sexual Assault Awareness Month Schedule of Events

By U.S. ArmyMarch 28, 2014

Posted 3/27/14

Each April, the DoD and other organizations across the country commemorate Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The Army, Navy and Air Force sexual assault response coordinators, or SARCs, and Army partner command Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) personnel at Fort Meade have joined together to plan various events.

Events include:

* Changemaker's Breakfast/Victim Advocate Recognition: Monday, 9-10:30 a.m. at Potomac Place Neighborhood Center

Victim advocates representing all branches of military service and community leaders are invited for breakfast.

* "Got Your Back": Tuesday through April 17

This program applies information learned about perpetrators' motives and behaviors in order to devise successful bystander-intervention strategies, and decrease community tolerance for sexual violence.

This even is open to all service branches.

* Tuesday to April 3: 9 and 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. at McGill Training Center

* April 9-10: 9 and 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. at National Security Agency, Friedman Auditorium

* April 14-15: 9 and 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. at McGill Training Center

* April 16: 9 and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at NSA, Friedman Auditorium

* April 17: 9 and 11 a.m. at NSA, HQ9A135 conference room

* April 17: 1 p.m. at NSA, Friedman Auditorium

Other events

* Joint Service Sexual Assault Awareness Day of Action Community Run: April 4 from 6:30-8 a.m. at McGlachlin Parade Field.

Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas J. Latter will meet with all senior enlisted advisors before 6:20 a.m. at the gazebo area.

The formation will run the designated route as one group.

For more information, call Linda Winkels at 301-677-4719 or email linda.m.winkels.civ@mail.mil ,or call Carol DeBarto at 301-677-5229 or email carol.r.debarto.civ@mail.mil.

* April 11: "Breaking the Silence" at 1:30 p.m. at McGill Training Center ballroom, 8452 Zimborski Ave.

The guest speaker is Monika Korra, who was kidnapped and raped in 2009.

The presentation is open all service branches.

While attending Southern Methodist University in Texas on a track scholarship, Korra -- a Norwegian student -- was abducted and brutally sexually assaulted as she walked back to her dormitory with a friend.

Korra will share her story and the steps that she took toward healing. She talks candidly about what she's been through and how she recovered.

Korra found her way back to a normal life, and she hopes to inspire others that may have faced challenges in their lives. While the crimes committed against her were horrific, Korra's talks confront these issues head-on in a way that uplifts and inspires her audience.

* April 23: Denim Day

Army civilian personnel are authorized to wear appropriate jeans to work to promote discussion of the misconceptions that surround sexual violence.

For more information, call Stacey Hale, installation sexual assault response coordinator, at 443-845-0876 or email stacey.t.hale.civ@mail.mil.

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