Pentagon victim advocates, Sexual Assault Response Coordinators (SARC) and volunteers held a Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (SAAPM) event in the Pentagon Courtyard, April 15.

On a cloudless day, 191 Pentagon employees, including active duty service members, civilians and contractors, lined up to walk laps in support of sexual assault survivors. As participants made their way around the courtyard, volunteers tallied completed laps, each of which represented a walk for a sexual assault survivor.

Lined with posters and presentations on bystander intervention, identifying unsafe behavior and the Clothesline Project, the courtyard displays strove to educate and motivate Department of Defense (DoD) employees. Representatives from the DoD Safe Helpline and SARC stood by to answer questions and hand out resources. Also along the courtyard were photos and written pledges where participants demonstrated how they would do their part to prevent sexual assault. The photo pledges allowed participants to write personal messages on how they intend to reduce risks associated with sexual assault and stand in front of a Safe Helpline photo booth to have their picture taken with the message. The written pledges allowed a more private pledge to be submitted into a pledge box.

One written pledge stated, "I will always look out for my brothers and sisters in arms," while another read "I will support survivors without judging."

Author of Spilled Milk, Kelly Randis, kicked off the event with a powerful speech on how it is important to be a voice for victims who may not know where or how to seek help. She spoke about the novel, which chronicles her experience as a survivor of childhood sexual assault and what it took for her to come forward and confront her perpetrator, her father. The title, she said, came from an eye opening event while having dinner at a boyfriend's home.

"His little brother spilled a glass of milk at the dinner table and I jumped up to bring him to his bedroom, to keep him safe. If that was my house, my father would have hurt one of us for making a mess," she said. "I realized his whole family was staring at me, wondering why I was in panic mode. It was in that moment I knew that something in my house was not normal."

Randis also mentioned resources for victims who need help, both within and outside the military. She highlighted the DoD Safe helpline as a place for confidential support for military members and the Doorway's Safehouse for women and families, just five miles away from the Pentagon in Arlington, for military members or civilians to use.
"Sexual assault knows no boundaries," Randis said. "It happens to lawyers, teachers, custodians...all genders and ages."

She recalled the moment her father was sentenced to serve 16 years for the assault and the judge said, "I can't believe you found the courage to tell because of a glass of spilled milk."

"All that I ask is for everyone reading my novel to be someone else's glass of spilled milk. Be persistent in empowering victims into survivors," Randis added.
Over the course of two hours, Pentagon employees walked a total of 813 laps to support sexual assault survivors. Representatives from all branches of services, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff participated in the event.

Walk-A-Lap for a Survivor is just one of the SAAPM events planned or sponsored by the Pentagon this April. Russell Strand, chief of the Behavioral Sciences Education and Training Division at the Army Military Police School, gave a presentation on "Achieving Culture Change to Eliminate Sexual Assault" April 21, and Michelle Garcia, director of the Stalking Resource Center at the National Center for Victims of Crime, will be presenting on "Stalking and Sexual Assault" April 24.

For more news on Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month events at the Pentagon, please visit the Pentagon SAAPM Committee Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/665696176889289/ and #SAAPM2015.

For anonymous sexual assault assistance, please visit www.safehelpline.org or call 877-995-5247.

Spilled Milk can be purchased online or in stores at the following locations: Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other major retailers.