The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) director for the Department of Defense (DoD) visited amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) Oct. 29. U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Camille Nichols spoke to the ship's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) victim advocates to gain their insight and shared the DoD's vision for the future of the military's SAPR program with the crew. "It's important that we talk to the frontlines, like here on the ship, to ask what is it that we can do better to reach the Sailors so that they can understand how to get involved and know their part to help someone in need," said Nichols. Nichols said since the SAPR program was overhauled in 2012, the DoD has made strides toward preventing sexual assault in the military by changing the way service members respond to sexual assault reports. "Our amount of reporting is up which is absolutely helping us understand the problem and the magnitude of [sexual assault] and where it is happening so that we can start eliminating it at a faster rate," said Nichols. During her visit, Nichols encouraged Sailors to not be afraid to report sexual assault and to seek treatment if they are assaulted. "We'd love to hear from you all on how we can tailor our training program to reach everyone and create an environment we can all be proud of," said Nichols. For more information about the SAPR program, visit www.sapr.mil. For more information on reporting sexual assault, visit www.safehelpline.org. To report a sexual assault, visit www.safehelpline.org or call 877-995-5247.