Service members and civilians stationed throughout the Republic of Korea are attending interactive Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) training while the Pure Praxis theater group visits the peninsula, June 20-23.

While contracted by the Department of the Navy's SAPR office, more than 1,300 members from each branch of service are experiencing the socially adaptive performance group during shows in Seoul, Osan, and Jinhae.

"I've been through a lot of SAPR training in my days," said Rear Adm. Bill Byrne, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea. "I was at one of the performances this week [in Seoul] and the performance was simply the best I've ever seen."

According to the group, it uses "improvisational theater to rehearse for difficult life situations so the audience can practice positive, creative, and safe solutions".

"We want this to resonate," said Kelly Pfleider, Pure Praxis founder and president. "We want people to walk out of this training, hear something inappropriate, and know they should act."

Pure Praxis uses their interactive workshops to confront social issues like sexual assault by discussing topics including bystander intervention, proactive prevention, domestic violence, re-victimization, harassment, awareness and empathy, sexism and appreciation of diversity.

"For me, today was about making a culture shift," said Chief Information Systems Technician Frank F. Gordon Jr., assigned to Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Far East, Detachment Chinhae. "It is about learning and appreciating what others are going through and helping them heal. It is about empowering victims and witnesses with the tools to prevent and respond to sexual assaults."

For more information and resources about SAPR training, please visit the SAPR website at http://www.sapr.mil/.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil/, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy/, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy/.

For more news from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea, visit http://www.navy.mil/.