Photo By Ana Allen | HONOLULU, Hawaii (April 8, 2019) -- Eureca Magbaleta, Sexual Assault Response...... read more read more
HONOLULU, Hawaii (April 8, 2019) – A Pacific Ocean Division (POD) employee is working to change the cultural tide in the battle against sexual assault; starting with high school students.
Eureca Magbaleta, Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) for POD, is in the midst of an outreach campaign, delivering sexual assault awareness training to Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, or JROTC, cadets at public high schools on the island of Oahu.
While her primary mission as a SARC is to serve as the single point of contact to coordinate sexual assault victim care among military and government service workers, as well as to track the subsequent process, Magbaleta places special emphasis on prevention. But not just for military organizations.
Today, as Magbaleta gives a training to a room full of high school students, she has her sights set on empowering youth to act and recognize “what right looks like”. So far, she’s spoken to cadets at Kahuku and Radford High School, using an Army-formulated brief that she’s adapted for teens.
“Reaching out to the younger community is very beneficial because they are our future leaders. We want to be sure that they are gaining the right perspective of what this issue looks like and the right tools to combat sexual assault at all ages and in all environments. Even if they don’t join the military, these emerging leaders will be part of the civilian workforce, the community or at home, and they will be where they can make a difference,” Magbaleta said.
Kaya Wilski, 17-year-old company and drill team commander for Radford High School’s Navy JROTC program, says the training was highly relevant for high school aged students. “I thought it was very informative…especially because we are about to go into the work force and be young adults ourselves so it’s good for us to have this going in,” Wilski said. “Specifically, I thought the active bystander portion of the training was valuable because we can all be part of the solution and should be looking out for each other and make sure everyone’s ok,” she added.
According to the training, an active bystander is an individual who not only witnesses a situation, but takes steps to speak up, step in to keep a situation from escalating, or to stop a problematic situation.
Brian Belk, Naval Science Instructor, who teaches year two and three cadets, which includes sophomore through senior grades, says the training was also important because it presented ways to deal with the issue now, as well as planted the seed to change societal norms. “My hope is that it will be more acceptable to stand up for a friend or even someone you don’t know who needs help getting out of a bad situation. I think this will give them more courage to do the right thing, instead of just walking away,” Belk said.
Magbaleta, who plans to speak at Campbell High School next week, said the high school students, have been very receptive to the training. “They really got engaged into the conversation, even though the topic was somewhat unfamiliar or uncomfortable. I can see that they are actively working to understand the issue. It’s extremely encouraging,” she said.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which is a nation-wide campaign to raise public awareness about sexual violence and educate communities on how to prevent it. The campaign theme, “I Ask,” champions the message that asking for consent is a healthy, normal, and necessary part of everyday interactions.
| Date Taken: | 04.08.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.09.2019 15:49 |
| Story ID: | 317446 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 156 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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