Following a full review of the FHRIC report, I sat down and…

...take inventory of ourselves, & convey my intent for areas we will improve on, and how we will do so, on our team, going forward. I share these conversation drivers below thinking others might be willing to expound, &/or that others might find them useful within your own teams.

And yes, I will take every available opportunity to share the article we wrote called "Athena Thriving" that addresses a lot of these questions and could help prime these discussions. https://t.co/pKiWiAtqhu

Questions:

What are the linkages between gender discrimination/sexism, sexual harassment, and sexual assault?

How does sexism set conditions for SH/SA?

How do we create a culture/climate within our unit that eliminates gender discrimination/sexism?

Do you understand what micro aggressions are and their role in promoting gender discrimination? How do we correct micro aggressions?

How do we create a climate that values women and other minority populations and makes clear that discrimination will not be tolerated?

How do we ensure that leaders are comfortable making corrections on all soldiers? (i.e. men correcting women)

How do we ensure that all soldiers are receiving mentorship? (i.e. we aren’t reliant on women to mentor women)?

How confident are we in our SHARP program?

Are our SARCs properly trained? Are we putting the right people into these positions? Do we have enough primary and alternates? How do we, as company and battalion leaders, support and empower our SARCs?

Is our training effective? Engaging?

Does it clearly articulate what constituted SH/SA and does it clearly communicate reporting procedures and requirements?

Do we clearly understand the difference between an unrestricted and restricted report?

Does our training discuss consent in detail? Does it discuss "enthusiastic consent?"

How confident are we that we understand the level of sex education our Soldiers come to us with?

How can we overcome this?

Do we understand that if a sexual assault is reported to a member of the chain of command they have a duty to report? What is the process for doing so?

How do you, as a leader/commander, facilitate the training and ensure it gets the proper emphasis?

How do you prevent it from feeling like a “check the block” training that is just death by PowerPoint?

How do we avoid “fear mongering” or trivializing SHARP? (i.e. “dude you better be careful, you’re going to get SHARP’d!”)

How do we ensure our SHARP program isn’t simply focused on defensive measures for women?

How do we grow and develop Soldiers of character who do not harass or assault each other?

How do we dispel the myth and perception of false reporting as retaliation or other purposes?

Are we completing our training requirements? How are we tracking?

How do we remain complaint in our SHARP training requirements & ensure new soldiers are trained in a timely manner upon in-processing the unit, understanding new Soldiers are among the most vulnerable population?

What are the statistics on sexual assaults against men in the military, and why is this important?

Do we have a climate & culture where our soldiers are comfortable/ trust us enough to report sexual harassment and sexual assault?

Do they have faith in the system and processes?

How do we create this trust that we will take them seriously and treat both the alleged victim and subject with dignity and respect?

How do we react when there is an allegation of sexual harassment or sexual assault within our unit?

What if the alleged subject is someone “popular” or “squared away,” does that make a difference at all? What is victim blaming and how do we avoid it?

How do we provide support to alleged victims and prevent retaliation, ostracization, shaming, and re-traumatization?

What support is available to victims (i.e. BH and SVC)? What options to do commanders have?

How do we provide support to alleged subjects?

How do we ensure we are providing periodic updates to both alleged victims and subjects on their cases?

How is the investigative process between sexual harassment and sexual assault different? What is the role of the SARC, chain of command, and CID in each?

What are some behaviors that victims of sexual assault might display? How are some of these different than what you might expect (hypersexual, engaging in risky behavior, misconduct, etc.)? Why is it important not to assume that "victims should act a certain way?"

Do we understand who our most vulnerable populations are? (FHIRC: victims: 88% E1-E5; 63% 18-23 years old; subjects 92% E2-E7. Subjects and victims are nearly always close in rank and work, train, and live in close proximity.)

How do we make our barracks safe from sexual harassment and assault for all of our soldiers?

What is the role of alcohol in sexual assault? (70% of FHIRC cases; 62% of cases DoD wide in 2019)?

If you made it this far, I'd really love for you to add your own leading questions below, and/or share for others. We're in this together. There isn't some working group in the Pentagon that's going to solve this for us- we are the change. Get to work.