U.S. military, community members come together to combat sexual assault

  • Published
  • Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs

Approximately 60 Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Airmen, service members from sister services and local community partners attended the first PACAF Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Team SAPR Summit in Honolulu, July 30-August 1, 2018.

 

The three-day summit provided attendees training and education in sexual assault prevention, budget execution, administrative management and transgender/non-binary awareness.

 

“The U.S. Army Pacific Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) program has been doing this for years and has often included us in their events,” said Dr. Lisa Charles, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces SAPR program manager. “We created the similar training event for our PACAF team, and include our sister services and community partners.”

The summit included presentations, keynote speeches and breakout sessions, which allowed attendees to learn from each other, giving them an opportunity to gain greater understanding about topics to pursue change.

 

“Not only does [the summit] engender collaboration among our partners in the same fight, it allows us to learn from each other and find new ways to combat sexual and interpersonal violence in our unique environment,” Charles said. “The attendees' participation in the summit reflects the sincere dedication they have in their mission to help those who experience sexual violence. Nobody saw uniforms, rather, they saw other people collaborating on the same mission to find ways to end sexual violence.” 

 

Sexual assault and interpersonal violence harms the lives and careers of those involved, undermines individual and military readiness, and weakens a military culture of dignity and respect.

 

For more information about sexual assault and prevention please contact the SAPR office at 808-448-3192.