Shart Training Are Not a Failure

A massive organization such as the Army plays an important role in defending the American way of life. Though there are many external dangers in our line of work we are highly vulnerable to the threats that are within our organization. Sexual assault has no place in our professional organization as it is a cancer that can destroy any professional organization from within and will continue to grow and spread without boundaries until it’s eradicated or stopped. Usually the best way to stop something bad is to try and prevent it from happening in the first place. The Army has spent millions of dollars on programs and a lot of manpower to educate Soldiers on prevention, protection and reporting sexual harassment. Though numbers may continue to rise, it doesn’t mean that the programs are failing. It merely reflects more service members are comfortable in reporting the issue.

The current SHARP programs may appear to have not significantly reduce the number of sexual assault or harassment, but from my viewpoint I think it is working and will take more time and education. The reason why the reports has increase from 2007 to 2018 Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) for all the military services is that service members of all branches are becoming more aware of the resources that can help them when they become the victim of any assault or harassment without fear of reprisal and that there are systems in place to protect their privacy and safety. The previous decades were not very kind to the victims of any assault and perpetrators continued their negative behavior while climbing up in rank. The mandatory quarterly SHARP training is fine and dandy, but part of the problem is how many Soldiers in training are paying attention or is retaining the information.

Part of the ongoing issue is SHARP training like many other mandatory trainings are only conducted to check the block. However, it still gets the word out there providing potential victims and assaulted victims with resources that will protect them, encouraging them to make either a restricted or non-restricted report. Which in turn will help rid our great Army one perpetrator at a time. By examining the cases that were registered in FY2018 in the Enclosure 1: Department of the Army in SAPR, must of the cases were from lower service members being taking advantage of by a more senior ranking service member. Sexual harassment and sexual assault will continue to plague this organization until service members high and lower understand that their action will not be tolerated, and only then will there be a rapid decline in victims. Crimes that involve sexual harassment and assault can never be eradicated in the military or in our society. All we can do is educate ourselves and officials to continue to establish policies and regulation that empowers the victims and not be afraid of the increase number of victims that has been reported.

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