A representative from Healing Hearts Crisis Center spoke to service members from Joint Region Marianas during a Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month event April 18 at JRM Headquarters.

Ann Rios, a sexual assault nurse examiner for Guam's only rape crisis center, spoke of the challenges of sexual assault prevention both within the military and outside.

"I think Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month is the time to get the word out to everybody," Rios said. "I think it's important with my job, with what we do and what we want to prevent, to keep talking about it."

According to Rios, Healing Hearts Crisis Center works closely with military counterparts on U.S. Naval Base Guam and Andersen Air Force Base and also provides training to school-aged children in regard to sexual assault reporting.

"It's the most underreported crime in the nation, and most of our statistics are actually children, so we could end child sexual abuse," she said. "I like our professional relationship with the military and I just think it's awesome. It's actually grown, and it's really comforting to me to see it growing. It's like planting a seed and seeing it flourish."

The event began with a short speech by Commander, Joint Region Marianas, Rear Adm. Better Bolivar, and followed with a speech by Joint Region Marianas Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Officer, Lt. Julie Cunningham.

Cunningham said she thinks it's important to include guest speakers from the community in these events because sexual assault is a problem for the entire island.

"We want to bring awareness to this problem," Cunningham said. "As I mentioned in my speech, we don't want to sweep this under the carpet. We want to bring this issue to the forefront of people's minds, provide support for survivors and let perpetrators or potential perpetrators know that we as a community stand against this."

This event was one of many hosted on island this year to bring awareness to the subject. Other planned events include a silent witness display in the Navy Exchange on U.S. Naval Base Guam, a proclamation signing at Guam Community College, a SAPR 5K and a victim advocate appreciation luncheon. Cunningham said the command plans to continue hosting events like this one throughout the year to keep the subject on people's minds.

For more information on the Navy's SAPR program, visit www.sapr.navy.mil

For more news from U.S. Naval Forces, Marianas, visit www.navy.mil