FORT KNOX, Ky. — A Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program policy update has expanded the eligibility for restricted reporting to include DoD civilians.
According to DoD officials, this policy update will apply to those working within the Military Services, the National Guard and other DoD Components that have SAPR programs.
The policy went into effect on July 19 as part of a SAPR program-wide reboot.
“Right now, we're in the middle of a transformation for the [Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention] program,” said Timothy Boyland, a supervisory sexual assault response coordinator at Fort Knox. “One of the things that we've been [talking] about for the past six or seven years was allowing civilians to be able to file [restricted] reports and get help, without getting law enforcement involved.”
Boyland said that doing this will help give civilian sexual assault survivors back the power to choose.
“One of the big things about sexual assault is a victim having their choice taken away; so, part of this reform is kind of giving that back to civilians, as they've done for soldiers,” said Boyland.
Until now, civilians only had one reporting option, unrestricted.
When an individual files an unrestricted report, the command and law enforcement are automatically involved, whether an assaulted individual wants to take that step yet or not. This left some individuals without much needed advocacy systems.
“Some people were not reporting sexual assaults because they didn't want the commanding officer or law enforcement involved,” said Boyland. “So, instead of them filing their report and getting the help that they needed, they did nothing.”
Another benefit of the update is that civilians will now have the option to convert a restricted report into an unrestricted one, allowing them to keep their case confidential until they wish to proceed with legal action.
“People are at different phases in their coping,” said Boyland. “Restricted reports are strictly to ensure that we're taking care of the victim until they're ready to move forward with any type of legal proceedings.”
Boyland said that most restricted reports get converted to unrestricted ones once an individual has received enough care to meet their medical and behavioral health needs.
“Ultimately the SHARP program is a victim-centric program, and if we're only allowing civilians to report unrestricted, then a big portion of the population is not going to be reporting,” said Boyland. “There's a better chance of us getting a criminal off the streets if we have more avenues of reporting.”
Visit Fort Knox News at www.army.mil/knox for all of Central Kentucky's latest military news and information.
| Date Taken: | 09.27.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.27.2024 11:06 |
| Story ID: | 481948 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 44 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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