Sexual Assaults in Organization Army - Free Essay Example

Sexual assault has declined in the last few years, however it is still a problem. Sexual Harassment, Assault, Prevention (SHARP) has been drilled into the soldier’s heads at least every year during mandatory briefings. SHARP is reiterated during every school or event, a soldier attends. While this has brought our numbers down, I do not feel as though it will cut the sexual assault down to an acceptable level. We need to teach the soldiers to treat their fellow soldiers as their family not just the soldiers in their unit, but the soldiers in all branches of the military. The average person would not begin to fathom the idea of sexually assault, let alone sexually assaulting their sister or brother. Sexual assaults can be categorized into lack of discipline/misunderstanding. Lack of discipline; whether it be discipline in alcohol consumption, or in self-control. A lack of discipline shows poor character qualities. The other column would be misunderstanding. Misunderstandings are not as large of a grouping as the alcohol related incidents. The misunderstandings are not a misunderstanding of the laws and regulations, but misunderstanding the situation. This misunderstanding is a result of both parties involved not being properly informed of the entire situation. These would generally include the third party reporting. Where one party is joking and having fun, while the manner in which they are joking is offensive to others and they are showing poor judgment by not being aware of their surroundings, and the other party overhearing the conversation and becoming offended by the conversation. Current SHARP training expresses the importance of reporting. This reporting is necessary to get the victim the assistance they need to overcome the assault, as well as to ensure the predator is held accountable for the assault. Of course, this all is dependent on how the report is filed. Typically, if the assault is a restricted report there is no investigation on the incident therefore no action can be taken against the predator. When there is an unrestricted report there is an immediate investigation, where depending on the outcome the predator will be dealt consequences that are appropriate for the offense. We will end SHARP incidents by embracing the family concept. By truly embracing the â€Å"Brothers in Arms† concept holistically, the sexual assault numbers will deplete to a non-existent number. Like anything in the Army, change will take time. Soldiers are strong to resist change. However, when we consider our brothers and sisters in arms as true family, the pure thought of either assaulting them or allowing them to be assaulted will be enough to stop it. When a â€Å"family† member is hurt the other members of the family are hurt together. The true family concept will not just help end the SHARP incidents but will help strengthen the army as a whole. Together we are strong, independently we are weak.