Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing bands together to stop sexual assault

Photo By Jessica Nilsson | Armbands make it very easy to identify who Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing's Victim Advocates are. The armbands were allowed to be worn during the month of April to bring awareness to sexual assault and to ID those who are there to help.  

NAS LEMOORE, CA, UNITED STATES

04.21.2022

Story by Jessica Nilsson 

NAS Lemoore

Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing units combined efforts to support the Department of Defense-wide Sexual Assault and Awareness Prevention Month by designing and distributing brassards to SAPR Unit Victim Advocates, who have worn the armbands on their NWUs throughout April.
CJSFW Chaplain LT Jesus Dominguez led the effort which allowed the UVAs from CJSFW Headquarters, VFA 125, VFA 97 and VFA 147 to wear the teal brassards embroidered with the U.S. Navy SAPR logo. This makes it easier for sexual assault victims to identify who to turn to in their time of need.
“The intent of the effort is to make Unit Victim Advocates easily identifiable - with the ultimate goal of making the wear of this or a similar brassard a standard for UVAs,” Chaplain Dominguez said.
A recurring complaint among sexual assault victims and others is that photographs used to identify each unit's UVAs are often outdated. This causes victims unable to or reluctant to reach out for help.
Additionally, the identity of a unit's UVA is only known within the unit. This also makes it difficult to know who to turn to when an assault happens.
Besides easy identification, another benefit of the brassards is that it creates awareness on base and allows others who are not a part of CJSFW to recognize who a UVA is. They can be identified everywhere, from walking on the sidewalk to shopping in the NEX to picking children up at school.
Much like a first responder's uniform makes it easier to know they are there to help, CJSFW is making it easier, at least for the month of April, for victims to identify a UVA - and that they too are there to help.

• Date Taken: 04.21.2022
• Date Posted: 04.21.2022 19:22
• Story ID: 419017
• Location: NAS LEMOORE, CA, US