Army Policy On Sexual Harassment

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The Army Policy on Sexual Harassment/Assault and Response Prevention.
The effects of sexual harassment and sexual assault will always have a drastic and negative impact on any unit in our Army. Therefore the Army has taken measures to help prevent the occurrence of sexual harassment and sexual assaults. The Army has created a program called SHARP (sexual harassment/assault and response prevention) to help prevent this type of behavior in today’s ranks across the entire Army.
Army Program
Sharp in today’s Army consists of two types of actions, sexual harassment and sexual assault. Between the two types they are completely different actions but one will lead to the other if complaints are not filled with unit Sharp representatives. The …show more content…

Verbal sexual harassment would be calling co-workers by names such as honey or baby and not by the Soldiers last name. Another example of sexual harassment is telling sexual jokes, whistling, and explicit cadences during runs are just some of the many verbal sexual harassment meanings that the Army classifies. The next category that falls within sexual harassment is nonverbal. Nonverbal is exactly how it sounds, the U.S Department of the Army classifies this as “blowing kisses to another person”, or “licking one’s lips in a suggestive manner” (2014, p.69). Nonverbal sexual harassment is also any type of explicit picture posted where any one person or persons could see the picture. The last category that falls into the three categories as sexual harassment is physical contact. A physical contact that falls into sexual harassment is blocking doorways so that the victim has to brush up against the subject that is blocking the entrance. Another form of physical contact that the U.S Department of the Army classifies is “patting, pinching, and grabbing” (2014, …show more content…

Since the program has begun the Army has seen increase in sexual assaults due to knowing how to report and trust in their units. The annual report on FY17 (fiscal year 2017) on sexual assault in the military has increased by nearly 10 percent. Sexual assault reporting has increased by over 88 percent within department of defense since FY12 (Department of Defence, 2018, p.8.)
The Army has produced a lot of ways to seek help with sources and a hotline number. The website has multiple different resources for anyone looking for information such as if you’re a leader, responder, transitioning service member, family member or friend (Department of Defence DoD safe helpline). The website also has a section for understanding sexual assault which has a lot of good information to help with reporting options and information just for men.
Conclusions and Future

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