The Army's Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) Program is the Army's integrated, proactive effort to end sexual harassment and sexual assault within their ranks. Sexual harassment and sexual assault have no place in the Army. If you have been the victim of sexual harassment or sexual assault, you have a voice, you have rights, and SHARP is here to help.

Active Duty Soldiers, Army National Guard, Army Reserve members, and their dependents who are eligible for treatment in the military health system are eligible for service.

Sexual Harassment means any of the following:

• Conduct that—

  • involves unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and deliberate or repeated 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

    • 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 Department of Defense.

• Any deliberate or repeated unwelcome verbal comment or gesture of a sexual nature by any member of the armed forces or Civilian employee of the Department of Defense.

For military personnel, the working environment pertains 24/7, on or off post, and on or off duty.

The Army provides informal and formal complaint process options for complainants. The SHARP Program is responsible for the Army's sexual harassment prevention efforts. The Army Equal Employment Opportunity Office provides assistance to Civilian employee complainants and SHARP personnel are responsible for military sexual harassment complaints.

Sexual Assault is defined as intentional sexual contact characterized by the use of force, threats, intimidation, or abuse of authority or when the victim does not or cannot consent. The term includes a broad category of sexual offenses consisting of the following specific UCMJ offenses: rape, sexual assault, aggravated sexual contact, abusive sexual contact, forcible sodomy (forced oral or anal sex), or attempts to commit these offenses.

The Army’s SHARP Program:

• Permeates the Army structure from the Pentagon down to the individual Soldier level

• Has full-time staff at the brigade level and higher

• Promotes cultural change across the Army, with a vision toward a culture of discipline and respect in which Soldiers intervene in sexual harassment and sexual assault to protect one another

• Includes a comprehensive effort to educate leaders and Soldiers about sexual harassment and sexual assault

• Employs a concrete training program that teaches Soldiers to be alert to serial offender tactics, to intervene to stop incidents and disrupt offenders, and where and how to seek help

• Provides commanders with the essential resources, education, and training they need to succeed in bringing an end to sexual harassment and sexual assault in the Army.

We have certified Sexual Assault Response Coordinators (SARCs) and Victim Advocates (VAs) available 24/7 to help with reporting, and support prevention, training, and awareness efforts.

The Army has instituted avenues for reporting sexual assault in the form of Restricted and Unrestricted Reporting.

Restricted Reporting allows a sexual assault victim to confidentially disclose the details of their assault to specified individuals and receive medical treatment and counseling, without triggering the official investigative process. Sexual assault victims who are sexually assaulted and desire restricted reporting under this policy may only report the assault to the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC), Victim Advocate (VA), or a Healthcare Provider (HCP). However, consistent with current policy, they may also report the assault to a chaplain.

Unrestricted Reporting is for victims of sexual assault who desire medical treatment, counseling, legal assistance, SARC/SHARP Specialist and VA/SHARP Specialist assistance, and an official investigation of the crime. When selecting unrestricted reporting, you may report the incident to the SARC/SHARP Specialist or VA/SHARP Specialist, request healthcare providers to notify law enforcement, contact law enforcement yourself, or use current reporting channels, e.g., chain of command. Upon notification of a reported sexual assault, the SARC/SHARP Specialist will immediately assign a VA/SHARP Specialist.

If you need help now:
Call the Safe Helpline: 877-995-5247  
Unable to call toll-free: 202-540-5962
Text: 55-247 (inside the U.S.)
Text: 202-470-5546 (outside the U.S.)

For more information about SHARP, visit https://www.armyresilience.army.mil/.

Family Advocacy Program: The Family Advocacy Program manages sexual assault allegations when the alleged offender is the partner in context of a spousal relationship, same sex domestic partnership, unmarried intimate partner relationship or military dependents who are 17 years of age and younger.

Catch a Serial Offender (CATCH): The Catch a Serial Offender (CATCH) Program gives victims of sexual assault making a Restricted Report an opportunity to anonymously disclose suspect information to help the Department of Defense identify repeat offenders. CATCH allows sexual assault victims (Service members and adult dependents) to discover if the suspect in their Restricted Report may have also assaulted another person (a "match" in the CATCH website), and having that knowledge, decide whether to convert their Restricted Report to Unrestricted to initiate an investigation of the serial offender suspect. For more information on the CATCH program see the DoD CATCH Program Victim Info Sheet.

Army’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (Sharp) Program:
https://www.armyresilience.army.mil/sharp/index.html

Department of Defense Sexual Prevention and Response Office Page:
https://www.sapr.mil/index.php

Catch a Serial Offender (CATCH) Program:
https://www.sapr.mil/catch

Army MWR Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Program (SHARP) page:
https://www.armymwr.com/programs-and-services/resources/sharp