» Wright State:
A program that deals with military sexual assaults could serve as a model nationwide,
A Wright State University training program that teaches WrightPatterson Air Force Base sexual assault victim advocates how to deal with the trauma on a peer-to-peer level could potentially serve as a model between the military and universities nationwide, officials said Tuesday.
Wright State and Wright-Patterson officials met with U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, to talk about the program in a press conference in the congressman’s downtown Dayton office.
Turner, co-chairman of the Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus, has co-authored extensive legislation with U.S. Rep. Nikki Tsongas, D-Mass., in recent years addressing sexual assault in the military.
Wright-Patterson has had a lawyer assigned since last fall to advise victims of sexual assault of their legal rights, said Col. Carolyn J. Patrick, WrightPatterson installation vice commander.
The base had relied on a lawyer at another base to advise victims, Patrick said. The Air Force set up a special legal counsel for victims in 2013.
Wright State’s two-day advocate training course trained nearly 40 airmen at Wright-Patterson in August, officials said.
“The advocates are probably the first gateway of helping them speak about the trauma experience,” said Ron Wean, a Wright State adjunct professor who trained participants.
A December 2014 report to President Barack Obama on sexual assault in the U.S. military concluded the prevalence of assaults have decreased, but reports increased between 2012 to 2014, indicating victims may feel more confident in reporting the crime, Patrick said.
Sexual assault reports increased by 8 percent between 2013 and 2014 and one in four victims reported the crime last year compared with one in 10 two years before, the study said.
“We knew it was always an underreported crime, but we’re starting to see those two numbers come closer together, which is encouraging as people ... establish trust in the system and they know they have the support of the community,” she said.
Wright-Patterson Judge Advocate Office reported 33 allegations of sexual assault involving adult victims between 2010 to 2014. The office reported seven occurred in base dormitories, six in military housing and the rest off-base .