ESSAY: Sexual Harassment and Assault Program in the Army

You will write in a clear and concise manner while using correct grammar, sentence structure, and word usage. You must provide a coherent transition from one topic to the next using the provided rubric as a general guideline. Your essay must be in a Word document, Times New Roman font, 12pt font size, double-spaced, adhering to formatting guide per APA 6th edition format without an abstract, tables, charts, etc. The essay must be a minimum of three pages and no longer than five pages in length, not including the title and reference pages.

The SHARP (Sexual Harassment and Response Program) essay is not intended to re-victimize, initiate an unwanted emotional response, or inflict psychological stress on anyone. In Accordance With DODI 6495.02 change 3, and Army Regulation (AR) 600-20, leadership (chain of command or NCO support channel) are always required to report any incidents of sexual assault. Disclosure of information pertaining to an instance of sexual assault in the SHARP essay will be immediately reported to the appropriate authorities outlined within the local SHARP reporting policy. The resulting report will be an unrestricted report. All of these regulations can be found on www.Armypubs.army.mil or a quick google search of the regulation.

ANSWER

Sexual Harassment and Assault Program in the Army

According to a report by the Federal Bureau of investigations (FBI), women bear the greatest brant of cases of sexual assault. The report also states that sexual assault is the most under-reported among the many violent crimes that happen in the United States. Within the military, sexual assault cases have continued to receive attention from the media. At least 32% of the U.S. military women report having been sexually assaulted while more than 80% have been harassed sexually. The annual report on sexual assault in the military that was released in 2019 shows that in 2018, 20,500 instances of unwanted sexual contact were reported as per statistics collected from both the Army, Marines, Navy and the Airforce.

This report shows that there was an increase of 38% of such cases when compared to 2016. Such shocking revelations have resulted in debates on the need to have the military change how sexual assault crimes are prosecuted. The survey also found that even though women form only 20% of the military, they form 63% of cases of sexual assault reported within the military sector. Among all the military branches, the army seems to be the most affected. Army Times, 2019 states that the cases of sexual assault within the army are concentrated between the ages of 17 to 24, which implies the majority could be new to the army. It is worse to note that such cases eventually result in some army officers committing suicide. According to the Army secretary Ryan McCarthy, there is an urgent need for something to be done to stop such cases. Based on the statistics presented herein, who is to blame for these cases of sexual assault in the military? According to DODI 6495.02 change 3, and Army Regulation (AR) 600-20, the chain of command has a lot of responsibility in ensuring that cases of sexual assault are reported and perpetrators dealt with according to the law. Most of the army commanders always pride in having zero tolerance in matters of sexual assault. On the contrary, however, such statements are only meant to entice the public. Military experts….