HEIDELBERG, Germany - They disrupt day-to-day operations, wreak turmoil, create a climate of fear and distrust, and victims’ lives are all but changed forever.
In recent years, the Army has stepped up its efforts to eventually eradicate incidences that studies indicate are only reported about 33 percent of the time.
On the front line helping to stop the enemy in its tracks is the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program, a comprehensive integration with the current Sexual Assault Prevention and Response and Prevention of Sexual Harassment programs.
SHARP is still in its infant stages and is not expected to be fully implemented in fiscal year until 2012, said Michelle L. Fonseca, SHARP program specialist at Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe G1.
In recent years, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, G1, determined sexual harassment is a potential precursor to sexual assault instead of the two being separate issues.
“The Army realizes a lot of incidences start from disparaging comments and sexist remarks, and some people are motivated to sexually assault,” Fonseca said.
Furthermore, the blame of the assault or harassment has now shifted from the victim, whom Fonseca, a former active duty equal opportunity advisor, stressed should never be made responsible, regardless of the scenario.
“No one deserves to be attacked, yet society tends to blame the victim, especially if alcohol is involved,” she said.
In fact, Fonseca explained booze, more so than date rape drugs, is what perpetrators tend to use to lower the victim’s threshold to where he or she cannot give consent.
“These people target individuals whom they perceive to be vulnerable, and it’s usually someone the victim knows. Why would you ever think your friend or coworker or somebody else you know would do this?” Fonseca said.
“We tend to believe it’s a stranger who breaks into the apartment in the middle of the night or corners someone in a dark alley, but it’s almost always somebody the victim knows pretty well or associates with in some manner,” she added.
Sexual harassment and assault are perhaps not common, but they do occur " even one time is too many.
As such, the Army’s biggest goal with the new program is to increase reporting and decrease incidences to hopefully one day eradicate the need for either.
“We want to decrease the numbers, definitely, and increase education, awareness and reporting. We are realistic, though, that no matter how much we push forward to the community, it still will occur,” said Fonseca.
Reasons for underreporting may never be fully realized, but Fonseca said it ultimately depends on whether or not the individual Soldier wants to take specific action.
“They may not want anybody to know, or they may not have trust in leadership, or they may fear retaliation, particularly if the perpetrator is in the same unit or senior to them, in which case they may fear reprisal. It could be any number of things,” Fonseca said.
What the program hopes to achieve is the ability for Soldiers to have a contact to talk to about any form of unwanted sexual acts without compromising their privacy. And often, the victim is unsure of what to do immediately after the incident.
“A lot of times, the (victims) are in shock initially and not even quite sure what they want to do, much less think about how they want to handle it. And whether they are sexually assaulted or raped, the power is taken away from them,” Fonseca said.
While POSH and SAPR have restricted and unrestricted reporting available, Soldiers sometimes have reported what they mistakenly perceived as harassment to EO, which does not have confidentiality.
Once it reaches that level, what is in fact assault must be reported to law enforcement to account for those who commit these crimes, perhaps even against the victim's wishes.
The merging of the programs will erase that uncertainty and Soldiers will be free to retain their confidentiality with someone they trust while seeking forms of justice and the care they deserve, said Fonseca.
“With that option, they still get the power they need and that enables them to be able to decide how they want to handle their case. It’s a great option because they still get the help they need and they can still handle it privately and discretely. Some really don’t want anybody to know about it,” Fonseca said.
New counselors (the majority of whom are sergeants first class or above) within Baden-Württemberg finished intensive 80-hour training from Mobile Training Teams based in Washington, D.C. on Patrick Henry Village in Heidelberg Thursday.
The hand-picked leaders were chosen by their commands after thorough screenings and background checks as well as criteria met in Army Regulation 600-20: Army Command Policy, Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program.
Throughout 2011 and 2012, MTT will train more than 17,000 SHARP personnel.
Within USAREUR, the training also recently wrapped up in Bamberg, Kaiserslautern, Wiesbaden, Grafenwöhr, Ansbach and Vicenza and is heavily backed by USAREUR Commander Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling and Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Capel.
Depending on the ranks available within an organization, majors and above and General Schedule 11 civilians and above may also serve as SHARP specialists.
Currently, the positions are collateral duty but by 2015 those in brigade and higher positions will be permanent, Fonseca said.
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