Fort Carson kicks off Sexual Assault and Awareness Prevention Month

FORT CARSON, Colo. (KRDO) - FortCarson kicked off Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (SAAPM) with guest speaker Edward Wilson, a retiree from the United States Army, who spoke on the importance of consent.

This new training program for leaders and soldiers aims to call awareness to sexual assault and prevention.

According to the Department of Defense annual report on sexual assault in the military, for the fiscal year 2019 -- more than 6,000 sexual assault reports involved service member victims. Given the tragedy of last year's event with Vanessa Guillen's death, the installation understands more than ever the importance of acting on this now.

There will be a variety of events in April designed to educate, honor victims of sexual assault, tell their stories, and make everyone aware of sexual violence.

Thursday, Army veteran and performing artist Edward Wilson, whose stage name is Obbie West, performed a poetry piece to leaders and soldiers who attended the event at McMahon Auditorium.

The FortCarson's Sexual Harassment/ Assault Response and Prevention Program (SHARP) will also provide their innovative SHARP 360 training program. This program is designed to make soldiers aware of different types of non-consensual sexual assault acts. Soldiers will participate in interactive training to learn what sexual harassment and assault look like and how they can be prevented.

The two-part training will mostly consist of a classroom portion followed by four vignettes, where soldiers will have to role-play different scenarios, with the hope to provide them with the harsh reality of these situations.

The installation will also display teal shoes, as one of the many efforts to bring even more awareness and honor survivors of sexual harassment and assault.

For more information on SAAMP, click here.