A small ....

As we come up to the end of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, I want to go over some key things that in Kait’s brain are the bottom lines up front for leaders in handling SH/SA issues. You don’t have to agree, this is just simply my experience.
#SAAM 1/

Your face, body language, tone & what you say when someone discloses to you can have profound impacts on a victim.

Anger, rage, sadness— those are valid emotions for you to feel. But you showing them can magnify what that victim is feeling, and even scare them 2/

If someone has come to you, it’s because they trust you. You’re not in a position to fuck this up. Understanding that leaders are required to protect the rights of the accused and the accuser, you are still duty bound to be empathetic. Phrases like, “I’m sorry this happened” 3/

or, “Let’s get you the help you need” or (and this is best, imho), “I believe you” have profound impacts on the ability to heal because at the base level, you know your leadership doesn’t think you’re lying. It might seem small, but believe me when I say that it is paramount 4/

trauma responses: every person will respond differently. Some will turn to hypersexuality... this does not make their assault any less valid. Healing is not linear and will probably not follow the path/timeline you’ve laid out in your head for them to be “better” 5/

there will be good days and there will be bad days. Encourage and provide them opportunities to seek help, even when they seem to be doing okay. (e.g., every year on the anniversary of my assault, I am... not okay, to put it lightly). 6/

How you handle your SH/SA training, how you talk about it, and the effort you put into it will have a direct correlation on whether your soldiers will trust that they will have your support. This isn’t something you can just squeeze in. It’s fratricide; plain and simple 7/

So treat it as such. Give it as much time/standard/attention as you would for weapons qual. Because your formations are dying. End/