Photo By Chief Master Sgt. Jared Marquis | Senior Airman Jarret Ware, and Staff Sgt. Ashley Gonzales perform a skit as part of a...... read more read more
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UNDISCLOSED LOCATION - It started with a group of friends and coworkers getting together for a barbecue. The two Airmen were obviously attracted to each other as they talked and drank. After a while, the male Airman invited the female Airmen back to his room. She accepted. Once back at his room, although clearly intoxicated, she made her intentions clear: she was there to continue the conversation. His intentions were also clear...
As the lights dimmed, the crowd could see him lean into her, pushing her down onto the couch while she repeatedly told him she just wanted to talk.
This skit was one of five acted out by members of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Sexual Assault Prevention and Response team. Each skit, while not portraying a specific incident, was very similar to situations Airmen may encounter.
It was very easy to draw on personal experiences to develop the skits, said Staff Sgt. Ashley Gonzales, SAPR victim advocate.
“This is stuff we see all the time,” she said. “The hardest part was trying to make the skits entertaining, because it is a very serious subject.”
Using humor to enlighten and inform, the skits were meant to entertain the crowd, while making the message clear: sexual assault and harassment are crimes that are not tolerated in the Air Force, and Airmen have a responsibility to step in when they see a situation has the potential to escalate.
“We wanted to do it in a way that was refreshing and new,” said Gonzales. “We wanted people to be engaged and actively listening.”
In these scenarios, bystanders observed and sometimes commented on the situation, but failed to intervene. While bystanders were often not the focus of the skits, their presence was a powerful reminder that sexual assault and harassment do not happen in a vacuum.
“We wanted to make sure that people are aware of things that go on around them all the time,” said Master Sgt. Navora Edmonds, SAPR victim advocate. “We wanted to impact people in a way… that they respond, that they get angry, that they get agitated. Don’t just have those feelings, act on them, make a difference.”
In addition to the skits, the event featured eight vocal and poetry performances.
Following the skit, the male actor stood in the center of the stage, exasperated he had been accused of rape.
“She didn’t say no,” he said. “You heard her, she didn’t say no.”
No, she didn’t. But, most importantly, she didn’t say yes.
| Date Taken: | 12.11.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 12.12.2014 05:58 |
| Story ID: | 150145 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 38 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Marauders learn to act in SAPR skits, by CMSgt Jared Marquis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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