SAAM: April dedicated to raising awareness, prevention

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Alexandria Mosness
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  With Sexual Assault Awareness Month in full swing, members of the Kaiserslautern Military Community have the opportunity to stress prevention, raise awareness and to educate others with this year's theme "Hurts One ... Affects All. Preventing sexual assault is everyone's duty."

Since 2001, April has been designated as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and Ramstein is no stranger to taking on the issue. But, raising awareness cannot be achieved without understanding the statistics of sexual assault.

"There was an average of one assault every nine days in U.S. Air Forces in Europe," said Capt. Rachel Morgan, KMC Sexual Assault Response coordinator. "Of the reported cases, 85 percent of the victims knew their assailant and more than half were 24 years or younger. Alcohol was involved in a little more than 70 percent of the assaults."

However, these numbers do not always paint an accurate picture.

"Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes," Captain Morgan said. "So, these statistics only scratch the surface of how many people are affected by sexual assault on Ramstein Air Base, across the Air Force and around the world."

Beginning in 2005, the Air Force commenced the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program and assigned full-time sexual assault response coordinators at all main operating installations.

"The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program exists to educate military members, their families and civilian employees about sexual assault and its destructive reality, as well as to help victims heal," Captain Morgan said.
Though sexual assault is inconsistent with the Air Force's core values, it is still affecting today's Airmen. And, while many people look at sexual assault as something that can't happen to them, the facts prove otherwise.

"Approximately one in four women are sexually assaulted and one in 33 men; in the military, that average is approximately one in three women," Captain Morgan added.

With the staggering statistics in mind some might wonder what can be done to prevent the action.

"We all can be proactive in preventing sexual assault," the SARC said. "Oftentimes as bystanders, we do not want to intervene (particularly when we are part of a crowd) because we are worried about embarrassing ourselves; however, by stepping up in situations that have the potential to escalate, we could be preventing a sexual assault. Our new training, Bystander Intervention, discusses many of these situations and how we can successfully intervene."

However, if prevention done not work, what does someone do if they have been sexually assaulted?

"In the event you are assaulted, get away from the attacker and seek medical attention right away," Captain Morgan said. "Contact your SARC. Don't shower, change your clothes, go to the bathroom or brush your teeth. You also should not eat or drink before you have been seen by a doctor."

Reporting options also play a vital role after someone has been sexually assaulted. Victims have two options for reporting sexual assault, restricted and unrestricted.

One Airman, who asked not to be identified in this story to protect her privacy, said in a recent Air Force article that it took about a month before she was able to gather enough strength to report the incident to the police. And after such a long period of time, it was her word against his.


"I didn't want to report it because I didn't want to relive it," she said. "When I finally did, I had no evidence anymore; I washed him away."

Active-duty members can report the assault as restricted, which allows the victim to disclose the information about the assault to SARCs and victim advocates confidentially. With restricted reporting, it does not trigger an official investigation.


The other option for victims is unrestricted reporting. While restricted does not start an official investigation, unrestricted opens up this process. If reported through normal reporting channels, such as the victim's chain of command, law enforcement and the Air Force Office of Special Investigation, an investigation will have to begin.

Something else to remember about sexual assault is that each victim is affected differently.

"The most common effects experienced are extreme emotions or numbness, intense fear, shame and helplessness," Captain Morgan said. "Victims also experience both a loss of trust in themselves and their ability to make decisions and a loss of trust in others. Victims often blame themselves for the assault and go through a period of questioning what they could have done differently to prevent the sexual assault.

The Airman, like most victims, still has with conflicting feelings about the night she was assaulted.


"It made me feel weak, empty, worthless, dirty and stupid," she said. "Why couldn't I stop him?


For the military community as a whole, it's also important to remember that sexual assault does not just affect the victim.

"The negative consequences of sexual assault reverberate throughout a unit and beyond, starting with the victim, then expanding to family, friends and co-workers," the SARC said. "This degrades readiness by harming the life of the victim and the military's ability to work effectively as a team. When someone is assaulted, they may not be able to perform basic tasks, and they may miss work for appointments, such as medical, legal or chaplain assistance. This requires fellow Airmen and leadership to step in and help."

This month, the 86th Airlift Wing SARC office is hosting events to inform, inspire and instigate sexual assault awareness, to amend people's perceptions about assault, as well as provide prevention methods. For more information about the KMC SARC program or upcoming events, call 480-5597. For 24-7 sexual assault response and assistance, call 480-SARC or 06371-47-SARC.