Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Pacific (NECCPAC), located at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, hosted a variety of events during April's Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (SAAPM) to raise awareness of the Navy's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) program.

NECCPAC invited local military commands, state, regional, and community leaders to their 2nd Annual Cup of Prevention event April 29th to discuss a variety of topics relating to sexual violence, sexual assault and stigmas within our military and society's culture.

Lt. Cmdr. Leslie Slootmaker, NECCPAC SAPR officer and event coordinator, reflected on the diverse organizations that added their voices to the discussion.

"This year's event was a huge success with guest speakers from Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS); Honolulu Police Department (HPD) Sex Crimes Detail; Commander, Pacific Fleet (CPF) SAPRO; Hawaii State Department of Health, Maternal and Child Health Branch, Sexual Violence Prevention Program; Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Regional (CNRH) Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (RSARC); Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 303 Detachment Pearl Harbor, and Victims' Legal Counsel (VLC), Pacific, attending to discuss a variety of SAPR-related issues," said Slootmaker.

Joanne Higashi, representative from Hawaii Department of Health's Sexual Violence Prevention Program, left impressed by the men and women inspired to make a difference.

"It was good to hear the different perspectives and I was so impressed with the integrity of your community and [I] believe these events will continue to inspire the young men and women to have healthier relationships and live a higher standard," said Higashi.

Yemanja Krasnow, CNRH RSARC, commended NECCPAC for coordinating this type of event to maintain awareness of the all-hands' effort required to stop sexual assaults from occurring.

"I commend NECCPAC for an outstanding event that allowed for Sailors and service providers to share their concerns regarding SAPR and learn about the Commander, Navy Region Hawaii's SAPR and community resources available to them," said Krasnow.

During the prevention event, CPF SAPR Officer, Capt. Roy Nafarrete discussed the need to create a culture of change through a variety of campaigns.

"There are a number of prevention campaigns in existence, such as 'It's On Us' or 'No More Campaign' but one that is gaining traction is a Hawaii-born grassroots movement called the 'Delta Campaign,'" said Nafarrete. "This campaign recruits and trains change agents or 'Delta Agents' to overtly work towards changing individual behaviors in order to rise above social norms."

Yeoman 1st Class Angela Cleland, NECCPAC's administrative leading petty officer and first unit victim advocate, also appreciated the collaboration effort to bring about workable solutions to make a difference not just today, but every day.

"I was excited to see the large number of members in attendance to learn from the panel guests, and to discuss and listen to the other Sailors' thoughts on how our military is tackling sexual assault within the ranks," said Cleland.

At the end of the day these types of events provides opportunities for Sailors to learn from one another.

"The rich dialogue between all members was invaluable and all of us learned from each other and that made us better Sailors," said Nafarrete.

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