Changing Army Culture around Sexual Assault

The US Army established the Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) Program to help change Army culture by:

• Discouraging sexual harassment and hostile work environments
• Encouraging bystanders to intervene if they see harassment or assault occur
• Encouraging victims to report incidents through proper channels without fear of retaliation

The project’s original objective was to overhaul an existing series of videos to reflect the Army’s diversity, the full range of hostile behavior, and the proper response of bystanders and leadership. Meanwhile, sub-initiatives expanded to include preventive health and wellness messages.

Prime contractor Armed Forces Services Corporation turned to Mind & Media to quickly and cost-effectively produce both engaging training videos and targeted public service announcements (PSAs).

Army now has an effective video series to help promote SHARP program messages. During annual training with all Soldiers, the training videos spark discussion while the leadership videos show high-level commitment to changing Army culture. The PSAs are used in Army base movie theatres before features and in other high-profile settings.