Army’s Sexual Harassment/assault Response and Prevention Program "Sharp"

Exist the Army’s policy for sexual harassment and sexual assault, known as the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program also known as “SHARP.” Also, to discuss the fact that even with all the training the Army conducts, why do the number of sexual harassment/assaults continue to rise. “Sexual assault is a crime defined as intentional sexual contact, characterized by the use of force, physical threat, abuse of authority or when the victim does not or cannot consent”. The Army’s goal is to eliminate all sexual harassment and sexual assaults from occurring. The Army attempts to do this by using the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program trying to successfully prevent these incidents all together. The Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program is to inform company commanders, Soldiers, Department of the Army (DA) Civilians, and Family members about what sexual harassment/assault truly is. 

This resource also addresses techniques to deal with sexual harassment, how sexual harassment can affect an individual, and their performance; intended to create an atmosphere of trust that respects and protects the dignity of all Army members. According to the Department of Defense's annual report on sexual assault in the military written on 1th Mae 2018, states that the number of sexual assault reports increased by 10 percent in the year 2017, receiving 6,769 reports. Compared to the 6,172 reports made in 2016. Even though the military receives reports, 86 percent of sexual assaults in the military go unreported. The fundamental Human basic right is not being effectively implemented by senior leaders and are not taken as seriously as it should be. “Sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination at involves unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature between the same or opposite genders”. 

We need to stop and ask ourselves is the technique that the Army utilizes, being effective as it could be? Should we approach the topic from a different angle? In my opinion that is exactly what we should do. The fact that we are progressively getting more reports each year and rising tells us two things, part of the prevention is working, and part is not. With more reports, victims feel freer to come out and discuss what has happened to them but at the same time as I stated before the Army’s goal is to abolish harassment/sexual assault entirely. 

This should be a team effort to end sexual assault. Units should come together to collaborate on effective methods to accomplish the Army’s objective to eliminate sexual assaults. Perhaps this could be accomplished by discovering new ways to conduct training, making training more enjoyable and educational to the soldier. As opposed to the task to have one’s name signed on a roster as quickly as possible. Another method would be to discard online training, the outcome of online training could never be as significant as a sitting classroom or hands-on training. Training should be inspiring and meaningful; we shouldn’t approach the subject not as a task but as a life lesson and a stepping stone to be successful in our careers. Presuming we think outside of the box, devote ourselves as we do with every mission we are given, then this too could be conquered. Brining a true meaning to the statement “Sexual harassment is unacceptable behavior that will not be tolerated and has no place in our Army’s institution”.