Nellis recognizes April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month Published May 3, 2011 926th Group public affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Nellis members marked April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month with a 5k wingman run April 22. The Sexual Assault Response Coordinator office and Airman Leadership School held the event in conjunction with Alcohol Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month. Additionally, a Bystander Intervention training class was held mid-April to educate base personnel on sexual assault prevention. Nellis is also scheduled to host an Awareness Day on May 26, with a guest speaker discussing personal responsibility in sexual assault prevention. Air Force leaders have focused on sexual assault prevention and response for several years, with special emphasis on victim care. Experts say sexual assault is the most underreported crime in America. Air Force survey results show that in a 12-month period, 2,143 (3.4%) women and 1,355 (0.5%) men were sexually assaulted, with the majority of female victims reporting that their assailant was a fellow Airman. The results also confirm that most assaults go unreported. The Air Force Bystander Intervention training provides tools and skills to intervene in situations where fellow wingmen seem vulnerable and to encourage victims to seek help. Additionally, the Department of Defense has launched its Safe Helpline allowing service members to click, call or text for victim support services for themselves or others. The resource is free, anonymous and confidential. Those who need the service will connect with live sexual assault support professionals. It is live 24 hours a day, every day. "The underreporting of sexual assault poses a serious challenge to military readiness," said Clifford L. Stanley, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "We believe the Safe Helpline will provide DOD sexual assault victims with a variety of support outlets, which will lead victims to report sexual assault, seek needed information, and receive care." Safe Helpline offers three access options designed for service members. Users can go to http://SafeHelpline.org to receive live, one-on-one confidential help with a trained professional through a secure instant-messaging format. The website also provides vital information about recovering from and reporting sexual assault. A second option is to call the telephone hotline at 877-995-5247 to speak with Safe Helpline staff for personalized advice and support. Safe Helpline staff also can transfer callers to installation-based sexual assault response coordinators, on-call victim advocates, civilian rape crisis centers or to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The third option is for users to text their location to 55247 inside the United States or 202-470-5546 outside of the United States to receive automated contact information for the sexual assault response coordinator at their installation or base. For more information on the Defense Department's sexual assault prevention and response office, go to http://www.sapr.mil. (Information collected from www.af.mil.)