Top army officers recently joined the enlisted military and civilian personnel in a training session on sexual assault and harassment at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. The session was part of an educational mission of the US Department of Defense under its recently created Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention program or SHARP. The training sessions are intended to raise awareness of sexually abusive behaviors among army personnel, with the goal of eliminating such conduct to create a climate of respect and dignity in the ranks.
Sexual harassment doesn’t just occur in the military but is prevalent as well in the workplace. Where the culture of a workplace does not take sexual harassment seriously, a complainant may not report a sexual abuse case for fear of retaliation or being ignored. It may be emotionally difficult to bring a complaint to authorities in Houston, for instance. But where a complainant can’t turn to anyone else she trusts, a complainant can always turn to a compassionate and experienced Houston sex crimes lawyer for help. The same is true for a person who believes he has been falsely or unjustifiably accused of a sexual offense.
The SHARP program exists so the Army can prevent sexual harassment and sexual assaults. The Pentagon is scrambling to put a lid on recent sexual scandals in the military, and top officials themselves acknowledge that they have ignored the problem far too long. The latest controversy of a commander overthrowing a rape conviction and reinstating the accused pilot made a sham of Pentagon’s “zero-tolerance” policy on sexual assault.
“Until you actually make them aware of it, they don’t know. So the lack of training does evolve to something more serious,” says Sgt. First Class Latrice Jefferson. In Texas, you are committing sexual assault when you knowingly (in a non-consensual case) cause or force the penetration of the reproductive organ to constitute a sexual intercourse. Other definitions are incorporated in the Texas Penal Code section 22.011 under Sexual Assault.
The training should also help military personnel realize how many incidences of sexual assault in the workplace are foreshadowed by sexual harassment, as research has shown. Thus, to prevent future sexual assaults in the ranks, the Pentagon has to sustain that culture of protection, education, and respect, while enforcing punitive measures against sexual harassment. Many Texas law firms like Scheiner Law Group, P.C., can help file a case for you should anyone in your office make untoward advances against you that violate state regulations.
In other sectors where minors are involved, sexual assault cases are handled differently and more severely. Remember that the Texas age of consent is 17 years old, so any sexual abuse committed by an adult to a person under 17 could result in anywhere from two to 99 years or life in the slammer.
Never forget that you always have a choice. Don’t remain a traumatized victim of sexual harassment or assault by continuing to suffer the indignities of silence and abuse. Know your rights and get the law on your side by hiring a reputable lawyer to help set things right in your world again. And if you believe you have been wrongly accused of sexual assault, indecency with a child, online solicitation of a minor or any type of sex crime, Scheiner Law Group, P.C. is ready to defend you in the most important case of your life.