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FORT LIBERTY, N.C. - Leaders from across Fort Liberty and the XVIII Airborne Corps gathered at the Iron Mike Conference Center for the first Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention symposium to discuss leadership's importance in the units' climate.
"Every year we're learning new things, every year we're doing so much more research," said Russell Strand, a prior sexual assault response coordinator and a keynote speaker at the symposium. "So it's always important to bring in people to talk about the changes and what right looks like."
Multiple keynote speakers said that trust has to exist somewhere for the Army to move forward in building a more effective SHARP program.
"The vast majority of the trust I'm talking about isn't even in this room; it's at our lowest level," said Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, XVIII Airborne Corps commanding general.
How do you gain that trust? Leaders creating a safe work environment and getting to know the soldiers within the ranks not only allow the survivors to heal properly but also give them the comfort of knowing that their unit has their back and will not hold the situation against them. Not only does it provide that comfort and reassurance, but it also allows the survivor the room to handle the situation as they see fit.
Strand says that being there for people is the greatest thing we can do as an organization.
Pure Praxis, a social theater group focused on cultural change through interactive training sessions, demonstrated ways that a toxic unit or leadership could impact the flow of the workplace. The presentation gave insight into how allowing people in higher authority to abuse their level of power can negatively affect the unit as a whole. It also sheds light on how specific social cues people disregard are what people need to hone in on and be more weary of.
"I think most people think they are a bystander only if they witness something," Strand says. "What we want to do long before that experience is say, 'Okay, you need to be a bystander when it's disrespectful behavior; be a bystander before it gets to some of these harmful behaviors like sexual assault or domestic violence.'"
Strand says that what needs to start happening is that we are handling sexual assault before it becomes sexual assault or harassment.
"It's the prevention, and that is the focus of what we have made this program into," Donahue says. "I understand what the Army is trying to do and I support it, but I do think there needs to be change somewhere."
Bystanders need to stop it when it's talking down on one another, making innuendos, and not respecting each other's boundaries. Most SHARP cases don't just come out of nowhere; often, the perpetrator has been doing off-putting or disrespectful things in other fashions, and soldiers just don't know.
Strand liked to call them personas. His theory was that each person has three personas; one they show the world, one they show close friends, and one they keep to themselves. To defeat the problem, Soldiers first have to know and be aware of the signs.
Strand says that no one knows what works better in helping survivors than the survivors themselves. When a survivor says, 'Hey, this is what happened,' we need to soak that in and embrace them with open arms.
Having forums where survivors could come in and say what works and what does not work in these programs allows the Army as an organization to continue to grow and move forward.
"You should love people and genuinely care about people," said Strand.
It all ties back to leadership, which plays a part in the climate of units and gains control of the culture. Leadership must understand the social cues, listen to the survivors, and create a safe space filled with trust to continue moving in the right direction.
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| Date Taken: | 10.30.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.13.2024 07:07 |
| Story ID: | 484354 |
| Location: | FORT LIBERTY, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 19 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, XVIII Airborne Corps SHARP Symposium: Changing the Culture, by PFC Alaeja Robinson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
