Subscribe
The Whiteman Air Force Base Sexual Assault Prevention and Response team recently became the first in Air Force Global Strike Command to fully staff their program with full-time victim advocates.
This transition was part of an Air Force-wide initiative to better serve survivors of military sexual violence, connecting them to resources that can help them following a sexual assault.
Previously, most victim advocates were part-time volunteers who still had the responsibilities of their full-time careers. Scott Isom, 509th BW SAPR sexual assault response coordinator, said this system created some issues.
“It was sort of like an additional duty for the part-time volunteers,” Isom said. “The volunteers still had to go deploy, go on temporary assignments, or might have needed to change shifts. It could throw a wrench in our 24-hour on-call roster and make it more difficult to help those in crisis.”
The U.S. Air Force mandated that all installations move to permanent, full-time victim advocates by Sept. 30, 2024 to try to eliminate those issues and better take care of victims.
“This is my full-time job,” said Katie Glasgow, 509th Bomb Wing SAPR victim advocate. “I get to put all my energy into connecting with agencies on and off base and helping victims that are going through a crisis. This was harder with the part-time program.”
According to the Department of Defense’s official SAPR website, sexual assault is the most underreported crime in the military, making Team Whiteman’s move to full-time victim advocates an important step to improving support for victims.
Glasgow says the full-time status allows victim advocates to not only be more accessible for victims but also allows advocates to obtain more training through both formal education and experiences outside the Air Force.
The Whiteman AFB 24-hour SAPR hotline can be reached at (660) 687-7272 and can offer victims a wide range of resources. For information on reporting options and more, visit https://sapr.mil/.
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2024 09:54 |
| Story ID: | 469968 |
| Location: | MO, US |
| Web Views: | 12 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, First in Global Strike: Whiteman's new full-time victim advocates, by SrA Bryson Britt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT