Photo By Jason Bortz | To report a sexual assault, call the toll-free DoD Safe Helpline at (877) 995-5247,...... read more read more
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Story by Ensign Michaela S. White
PENSACOLA, Fla. (March 30, 2020) – In April, Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola joins the rest of the United States in observing Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (SAAPM).
At NAS Pensacola, the Department of Defense (DoD) Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Office’s motto of “Protecting Our People Protecting Our Mission” will be recognized a little differently this year. Due to recent health concerns for Coronavirus (COVID-19), the annual SAAPM events will move to a virtual platform.
The goal of SAAPM is to reflect on how perspectives of sexual assault have changed and how service members can protect themselves and each other. The DoD has made it their goal to create the appropriate culture to eliminate sexual assault and ensure that every service member is aware of the role they play in doing so. SAAPM is recognized annually and information is shared through the Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) Headquarters’ SAPR Program’s SAAPM Toolkit.
“Sexual Assault continues to have a negative stigma within the military. Since the beginning of the #MeToo movement in late 2017, people are opening up about it more and more in our culture. However, it continues to be a burden often borne alone and in silence by victims,” said Jenna Stewart Vaughn, the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) at the Fleet and Family Support Center onboard NAS Pensacola. “The SAPR program has made great strides to bring awareness to individuals regarding options for reporting, available avenues of support, and more. The P in SAPR stands for PREVENTION. We continue to work to help people understand healthy boundaries so that we can lower the number of sexual assaults in our Navy. The R stands for RESPONSE, since there is also a need for a system to be in place to help each survivor return to mission ready following this unique type of traumatic experience.”
Vaughn has worked diligently this month to ensure that SAAPM may still be observed and has reworked everything to be completed virtually amid (COVID-19) precautions.
“Here at NAS Pensacola we have a phenomenal cadre of qualified Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Victim Advocates (VA). They are often seen getting the message out by providing trainings within the command, standing the watch, and working with survivors. We have two active duty VAs on watch each week and they are ready to respond immediately when needed. These individuals have received specialized training and gone through the certification process from the National Organization of Victim Advocates (NOVA) to be eligible for this collateral duty.”
The Fleet and Family Support Center onboard NAS Pensacola will post daily on their Facebook page during April with messages of support and resources to show people where to discover useful information
“Stigma around sexual assault in the Navy as well in our larger culture needs to change. In part, how do we prevent it so we don’t even end up in a space where one partner felt consent and the other does not,” said Vaughn. “We want to promote healthy relationships and healthy behaviors.”
Part of what we want to do by having this one month is to help people change the way they conceptualize sexual assault, and prevent them from becoming a perpetrator.
“We need to step in and look differently to change the cultural views of sexual assault.” Said Vaughn.
Anyone in immediate danger should call 911. To report a sexual assault, call the toll-free DoD Safe Helpline at (877) 995-5247, the Naval Air Station Pensacola Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) at 452-5109/9017 or your command SAPR victim advocate.
For more information on the DoD Safe Helpline, visit https://www.safehelpline.org/.
For more information on SAAPM, go to www.navy.mil/saapm.
| Date Taken: | 04.01.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.01.2020 12:24 |
| Story ID: | 366338 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 111 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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