Failure of SHARP: Exploring Dramatic Rise of Sexual Harassment in Army

The reason for this essay is to figure out why the number of sexual harassment and sexual Assault in the army has risen so dramatically since SHARP ( Sexual Harassment and Assault Response Program) was applied. The SHARP was designed to educate soldiers on how to identify, prevent and report sexual harassment and sexual assault instances. As of 2018, the number of cases and instances has gone up by 38% since 2016, that’s two years, and it has gone up by 38%. The number of cases that happen in the military brings up the question if this program is doing any good.

Even at the lower level of leadership, it is very important to address these issues at our level, the team leader level. As leaders, it is important not to take these cases lightly, it is not a joke, and we as leaders need to take these cases seriously. Even during our work week, we need to stop and set all jokes aside, for they might be offensive to someone, and we need to make sure that soldiers understand that it’s okay to speak up and report cases that apply to them or even their battle buddies.

Sexual Assault is a big problem with the army worldwide. People are very uncomfortable about bringing up their cases or even their battle buddy’s cases and reporting them. Alcohol plays a part in sexual assault and harassment cases against women. 61% of these many cases involved alcohol. Alcohol makes everyone’s judgment skills very impaired when under the influence. Each and other soldiers should be held responsible for their actions no matter what rank they are. Alcohol isn’t the only factor that plays a role.

It’s also the NCO’s role as well. NCOs who teach any class always do a check on learning which does not teach the soldiers or show them how to prevent sexual Assault or sexual harassment but shows the soldiers that it is not as big of a deal then it should be. Women are not the only victims of sexual assault/harassment. Men are also affected by the same cases. The military estimates that about 6,300 men have been sexually assaulted in the year 2016 in the army than women have. Women are more likely to speak up about their cases than men are. Women, at a rate of 43%, will report cases than men will, at only 17% of cases will be reported. As leaders, we need to train and lead these lower enlisted soldiers down the right path to show them that SHARP is nothing to joke around with because if we don’t show interest, then why should they?

The approach that we have with SHARP is currently not working. The SHARP program was established in July 2012, and since then, they have taken a survey every two years. In a report from the Pentagon in 2018, they estimated 20,500 military members reported being sexually assaulted, with a number of 13,000 women and 7,500 men. In previous surveys, this was a huge spike in cases. There were only 14,900 cases reported in 2016. The amount of money being put into the SHARP program is not the right answer because it is not helping. Something needs to change with the SHARP program or fix itself, and there needs to be a change.

According to AR 600-20 chapter 7, the chain of command needs to ensure that their personnel is informed of the policies. My unit has a formation in the motor pool every Monday to go over the tasks of the day and will implement a 15-20 minute block of instruction to tell us why SHARP is bad. That does no good to the soldiers, especially brand-new privates who just entered the ranks. It also is the first time really ever getting briefed about this, and it has little information on what’s actually happening in the army today. As a leader, SHARP should be taken more seriously than a 15-20c minute brief in the motor pool. We shouldn’t wait for a SHARP rep to come by to teach us about the issue and what to look for. We should take the initiative ourselves to learn what to do and what to look for in these instances. The more we are informed, the more we can inform our soldiers as well, so they aren’t lost in the dark about what to do in a case they might be in or even witness.

SHARP is not something to take lightly since the military as a whole struggle with reporting cases. As NCOs to our soldiers, we are the biggest impact on them since we are part of their lives and we are responsible for every single one of them. Change starts at our level. At our level, we can be the change of every younger soldier, show them the right way and follow the road to being informed about the situation at hand. It’s at our level we can change the army and prevent sexual violence among all ranks of the military. It’s our job to shape these young soldiers to mold them into future leaders.

References:

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/us/military-sexual-assault.html
2. https://www.vox.com/world/2019/5/3/18528148/pentagon-military-sexual-assault-report-shanahan
3. https://www.sexualassault.army.mil/whatweknow_militarymen.aspx
4. AR 600- 20, chapter 7, pages 68-73

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