Photo By Katie Nelson | 402nd Army Field Support Commander Col. Erik Johnson signs the proclamation for Sexual...... read more read more
The 402nd Army Field Support Brigade kicked off Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, SAAPM, by signing the 2022 SAAPM Proclamation and participating in a command bowling event to “strike out sexual assault.”
“As your commander, I am committed to fostering a culture free of sexual assault and sexual harassment by defining, communicating, and modeling proactive prevention behaviors to empower the 402nd team to intervene when you see warning signs,” said 402nd commander Col. Erik Johnson at the event.
This year’s SAAPM theme - “Prevention Starts With You” - focuses on how every individual can stop incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment from occurring.
The Army is taking action to improve the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program, known as SHARP, through a year-long pilot at seven Army locations, including Schofield Barracks. The U.S. Army Hawaii’s SHARP Fusion Directorate opened April 1, signaling a shift in the SHARP program to a victim-centric model of care and support for survivors of sexual assault and an emphasis on prevention with comprehensive trainings and resources for Soldiers and Department of Army Civilians.
“Prevention moves beyond awareness of the problem and advances us towards the goal of eliminating incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault,” said Sgt. 1st Class Erik Barrientos, the sexual assault response coordinator for the 402nd. “The Army is taking deliberate steps to educate leaders, Soldiers and civilians on prevention and giving them the tools to speak up when they see warning signs.”
According to Barrientos, who recently graduated from the Army’s SHARP Academy, said people often see warning sign but choose to ignore them.
“People don’t ignore warning signs because they condone the actions, but because there are barriers, personal, social or organizational, that make people think twice before speaking up,” said Barrientos.
The barriers Barrientos referred to can be anything from fear of embarrassment or a negative impact on one’s career to being uncertain on the best way to speak up.
“My goal as the 402nd SARC is to help my teammates learn, develop and exercise the skills and behaviors that will help us identify and break down barriers stopping us from intervening,” said Barrientos.
Johnson believes underscoring the importance of prevention aligns with and supports the Army’s “People First” mentality.
“The Soldiers, civilians and families are the 402nd’s number one resource. Preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment is necessary to have a culture where every member of the team is respected, supported and valued.”
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.04.2022 15:42 |
| Story ID: | 417800 |
| Location: | FORT SHAFTER, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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