There is no room for sexual assaults in the Air Force

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Jessica Zamparini
  • 51st Fighter Wing Sexual Assault Response Coordinator
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  "Sexual assault is absolutely inconsistent with our core values and has no place in our Air Force; in a deployed context, at home or anywhere in between," said Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force.

The words of Secretary Donley are very accurate, but unfortunately the behavior of some service members doesn't always portray this statement. Within the Air Force ranks and among our sister services, personnel are harming each other and degrading what it means to serve by committing acts of sexual assault.

In 2009 the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Program outlined five major objectives.

The main two focused on institutionalizing prevention strategies within the military community with the aim of stopping a sexual assault before it occurs, and reducing the stigma tied to reporting a sexual assault.

To meet these goals AF SAPR needed a baseline from which to measure progress as well as a greater understanding of the incidence and prevalence of sexual assault in the Air Force. To accomplish this daunting task, AF SAPR partnered with Gallup to conduct a survey of Air Force personnel and Air Force Academy cadets.

The survey was conducted from July to August of 2010. The next few paragraphs describe the findings from the survey.

The first step for the survey was to identify the victims. The Gallup survey found that 3.4 percent of females and .5 percent of males in the Air Force had been assaulted during the past year alone. This equates to 2,143 females and 1,355 males.

Of the Airmen who reported being assaulted in the past year, 70.7 percent of females and 71.4 percent of males were grades E1-E4, while 45.2 percent of females and 48.0 percent of males were between the ages of 20-24. While victims are overwhelmingly young Airmen, no one can forget there were still a significant portion of females (29.5 percent) and males (24.8 percent) sexually assaulted who were between the ages of 25-34.

Victim care and wellbeing is the Air Force's top priority, but we should never forget that the only person who can stop sexual assault is the perpetrator.

Who are these perpetrators? The Gallup survey found that for female victims the vast majority of perpetrators are in the military, and most of those personnel are in the Air Force. For females who reported being assaulted, 81.1 percent said their attacker was in the military, along with 50.2 percent of male victims.

Sadly, for females whose attackers were in the military, 86.5 percent of them were in the Air Force specifically, along with 92.2 percent of male victims' attackers. Another piece to this puzzle is that victims tend to know the perpetrator as a friend, acquaintance or co-worker and have known the person for about one to six months. In fact, just 7.7 percent of females and 15.8 percent of males say the perpetrator was a stranger.

The final step in the survey was to ask for recommendations on how the Air Force could respond better to reports of sexual assault. The top recommendation, from both those who were and were not assaulted, was to increase consequences for offenders.

As one anonymous person respondent stated, "the perpetrators of sexual assault, however, will continue their behavior unless and until they fear significant consequences."

Sexual assault is a serious charge that will be investigated fully by security forces members or Air Force Office of Special Investigations agents. Depending on the severity of the circumstances, punishment could range from an Article 15 to dishonorable discharge, sex offender registration, or up to 30 years in confinement.

The Gallup report on "Findings From the 2010 Prevalence/Incidence Survey of Sexual Assault in the Air Force" is a wealth of knowledge that, as Airmen, we should all be aware of.

To obtain a copy of the full report or if you have any additional questions about the Osan SAPR program and what you can do to step up and help prevent sexual assault, call the Osan SARC at 784-2832.