April is recognized by the Department of Defense as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

The campaign offers a unique opportunity to build on the existing momentum within our community to eliminate this crime and ensure all serving in the Army and affiliated with the Army are treated with dignity and respect. The DoD theme for the 2015 SAAPM is “Eliminate Sexual Assault: Know your Part. Do your Part.”

Eliminate Sexual Assault: Everyone must know, understand and adhere to Army values and standards of behavior in order to eliminate sexual assault and other inappropriate behavior. There is a need for everyone to live the core values of the Army profession: integrity, trust, dignity, respect, fidelity and courage. We must have a continued dedication to create an environment where professional values, team commitment and respect define how we treat one another at every level, workplace and throughout our community.

Know your Part: Each member of our community has a unique role in preventing and responding to sexual assault. We must recognize our part in stopping this crime starting with our awareness and knowing when and where to intervene. Understanding bystander intervention is vital in helping to identify and stop unsafe behavior, and every day we can take steps to foster a culture of dignity and respect.

Do your Part: We as a community have to act. If we see a crime or inappropriate behavior unfolding, we need to step in to prevent it. In order to prevent sexual assault, every member of our community must be committed to advancing an environment where sexist behaviors, sexual harassment, and sexual assault are not tolerated, condoned, or ignored. Remember, sexual assault is not only inappropriate behavior, it is criminal behavior.