Sexual Harassment Assault Response Prevention (SHARP)

Mission The SHARP Program aims to foster a culture free of sexual harassment, assault, and retaliation by emphasizing prevention, education, training, response, victim support, and accountability. It has two core responsibilities—prevention and response—and assists Army leadership in reducing harmful behaviors through targeted prevention strategies. The program collaborates with the Army's integrated primary prevention workforce to implement research-based practices, ensuring the safety and well-being of all individuals covered. Prevention is a shared responsibility, with commanders playing a central role.

Did You Know?

With the restructure of the Army's SHARP program, Sexual Assault Response Coordinators (SARCs) and Victim Advocates (VAs) are no longer aligned to the individual unit level. SARCs and VAs for the National Capitol Region are assigned to individual installations under the Military District of Washington (MDW). If your unit is unsure as to which Fort Belvoir SHARP personnel are assigned to your unit, please contact our office.

KNOW YOUR OPTIONS

What classifies as sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment is conduct that involves unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and deliberate or repeated of-offensive comments or gestures of a sexual nature when:

• Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of a person’s job, pay, or career; or
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct by a person is used as a basis for career or employment decisions affecting that person; or
• Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment; and
• Is so severe or pervasive that a reasonable person would perceive, and the victim does perceive, the environment as hostile or offensive.
• Any use or condonation, by any person in a supervisory or command position, of any form of sexual behavior to control, influence, or affect the career, pay, or job of a member of the Armed Forces or a civilian employee of the DoD
• Any deliberate or repeated unwelcome verbal comments or gesture of a sexual nature by any member of the Armed Forces or civilian employee of the DoD

There are 3 categories of sexual harassment:

• Verbal: sexual jokes, sexually explicit profanity, threats, sexual comments, terms of endearment
• Nonverbal: cornering or blocking a passageway, inappropriate/excessive staring at someone, blowing kisses; offensive printed material, electronic communications (to include social media)
• Physical contact: touching, patting, pinching, bumping, grabbing, kissing, unsolicited back rubs

Two types of sexual harassment:

Quid pro quo
Refers to conditions placed on a person’s career or terms of employment in return for sexual favors.

Hostile environment
Refers to when a person is subjected to offensive, crude, unwanted, and unsolicited comments and behavior of a sexual nature that interferes with that person’s performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.

What populations/personnel are eligible to report incidents of sexual harassment to SHARP professionals?

How can I file a complaint?

• Direct Intervention Requestion (Soldiers only): requested by a Soldier if the desired remedy for the aggrieving behavior can be achieved by peer intervention, counseling, or training; requests will be made only to those individuals who are not in a supervisory or command position; cannot be used for harassment involving physical or attempted physical contact
• Commander (or civilian supervisor equivalent
• SARC or VA

Resources