'Focus on the left': Continuum of Harm training seeks to stop sexual predators

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF Mildenhall, England --  "One of the biggest questions people ask me is, 'What can I do to stop sexual assault?'" said Dave Spencer, 100th Air Refueling Wing sexual assault response coordinator from Lansing, Mich., during facilitator training April 8, 2014, on RAF Mildenhall.

"People say, 'I'm not committing assault, I don't know anybody that's been assaulted and that stuff doesn't happen in our work center - why am I getting all this training?" Spencer said. "The answer is the Continuum of Harm; the culture change."

The Continuum of Harm represents the area in which we live, work and spend our lives. Imagine an infinite straight line. On the left side are behaviors such as jokes and making comments with sexual innuendo. As you move down the line there is a build up to more serious issues on the right-hand-side, such as sexism, objectification, sexual harassment, inappropriate touching and sexual violence.

Spencer said studies show that in units where a sexually-charged environment is present, it's four-to-six times more likely a sexual assault will occur.

"The reverse is true - if we get rid of the sexually-charged environment, then we can reduce the incidence of sexual assault by four-to-six times," Spencer said.

"Everybody lives on the continuum and has the power to influence it and keep it to the left," he said. "One of the things the SAPR office does is focus on the left side of the continuum to stop sexual assault before it happens."

Spencer explained the closer people get to the right-hand side of the continuum, where people are inappropriately touching each other and sexually harassing one another, the easier it is for someone who has the intent to sexually assault someone to perpetrate a crime.

"If we starve the environment, then it's difficult for them to operate and when they do try to commit an offense, it will be easier to detect them," he said.

April 18 is a Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) down day on RAF Mildenhall. All Airmen and Department of Defense civilians will receive SAPR training.

Spencer said the purpose of the training is to raise awareness that there are offenders in the workplace.

"It will give people the tools to identify offender behaviors and help them understand the farther we are on the left side of the continuum, the more difficult it is for those offenders to operate," he said.

"My hope is that our SAPR down day empowers Airmen to step up and step in to a situation that's potentially dangerous and to report negative culture behaviors to their supervision, and let supervision act," Spencer said.

For more information, contact the SARC at DSN 238-7272 or commercial at 01638 547272.