FORT KNOX, Ky. — Raised in an environment of domestic violence and sexual assault, Fort Knox Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention coordinator Amanda Moore brings firsthand experience to her new role at the installation.
As the oldest of five children, Moore said she grew up very self-driven and with one goal in mind – to help others.
“When I was 9 years old, I lost my mother to domestic violence,” said Moore. “Watching my mother suffer played a huge roll on my upbringing. Being in and out of foster homes made me realize I wanted to help others when I was older.”
Moore said she originally thought her plan would lead her to a domestic violence advocacy career. She had experienced sexual assault firsthand as a child when a few of her mother’s boyfriends assaulted her.
Moore quickly shifted gears, however, after she also became a victim of sexual assault as a Soldier in the U.S. Army.
After her assault, Moore said she found herself in unhealthy situations, turning to alcohol to try and make herself feel better, so she joined the Alcohol and Drug Prevention Training program. Between ADAPT and SHARP, Moore found resources that helped keep her on track for the life she wanted.
“That program and the therapy, and the work that they made me do, really helped me heal,” said Moore. “It helped me to forgive my mother, helped me to forgive my father, and it helped me to move on and not stay in the unhealthy relationship I was in.”
Moore said she began to look into the SHARP program for ways she could help others while serving in the military and even after retiring as a sergeant first class Active Guard Reserve Soldier at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in November 2023
“If it wasn’t, honestly, for my victim advocate walking me through the process and explaining everything, I don’t know that I would have that much faith in the system,” she said. “He helped to empower me and so if I’m able to just empower one or two people as I go, then I’m happy.”
When Moore recently found out her husband had been assigned to Fort Knox, she immediately began looking for jobs within SHARP. Now that she has settled in, she said her goal is to help empower others the way that her victim advocate empowered her.
“It’s not to say that there aren’t some situations [cases] that hit home and that are too emotional, but I realized that in the big picture, it’s not about me, it’s about them,” she said. “And when I was going through it and I needed that help, that person could have had their own issues, but they made it all about me, and that’s what helped me.”
One way she is hoping to improve the program is by making training more interactive. Though there are already two interactive challenge room scenes on post, one to resemble an office scenario and one to represent a barracks room, Moore intends to build a third.
Because so many sexual harassment and assault incidents happen when there is drinking involved, her own assault included, she has decided to make the new room into a bar scene.
Dark walls, loud music, dimmed lights, simulated alcohol bottles on the floor, games and shadowy figures are all parts of the room that Moore hopes to bring to life and use as a tool to demonstrate how these situations can happen.
“It just makes you look at everything so that you get to know this person, even though this person’s not real,” she said. “But it could be, and it has been.”
One of the items she hopes to add to the room is a pair of drunk goggles to simulate the effects of drinking.
In addition to her unique training devices for SHARP, Moore said she will be spending time on Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Month events.
Ireland Army Health Clinic will host a walk April 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in support of SHARP. Sign ups and the starting point will be in the grass east of patient parking. There will be two route options. One will be a 2-mile route, estimated to take about 45 minutes, and the other is a 0.92-mile route, estimated to take about 20 minutes.
Two SHARP events will take place April 24: Denim Day and the 9th annual “Raise the Bars” Motorcycle Ride, hosted by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command.
The ride will start 1 p.m. at the traffic circle and end at the Silverleaf Sexual Trauma Recovery Services Center in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Registration is open until the event. An inclement weather date has been set for April 26.
Officials will continue to encourage “Teal Tuesday” throughout the month, SHARP representatives will also be on hand at the Exchange between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. with pledge sheets and resources in support of victims.
Editor’s Note: If you have been or know someone who has been sexually harassed or assaulted, and want to report it, call the Fort Knox SHARP Office at 502-851-3779 or the Fort Knox Military Police non-emergency number at 502-624-2111, or DoD Safe Helpline 1-877-995-5247 Website and Online Chat: http://www.safehelpline.org
| Date Taken: | 04.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.15.2024 11:50 |
| Story ID: | 468549 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Hometown: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 31 |
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This work, From empowered to empowering others about sexual assault: Amanda Moore, by Savannah Baird, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
