Sailors and Marines gathered at Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Atlanta to participated in a new format of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response training performed by the interACT performance troupe, Oct. 10.

Pure Praxis, representing interACT, creates a live social justice performance based on uncomfortable real life scenarios, and allows audience members to assist in safe and creative strategies to change the outcome of future conflicts.

"I've been here for eight years and this is the best training I've received," said Builder 2nd Class Taj Coley. "I've never received training that was so interactive and inspiring."

The troupe focused the training on peer pressure, violence, sexual assault, and intervention. The scenarios included a protagonist that didn't want to get involved and an antagonist fueling the situation.

Kelly Pfleider, president of Pure Praxis, said our culture tells us to mind our own business rather than intervening. She encouraged the audience to apply their core values of honor, courage, and commitment to address these situations.

At key moments in the scenes, the facilitator paused the actors and brought members of the audience onstage to act out their own ideas to diffuse the situation.

"We rehearse for combat, so we're going to rehearse for this situation," said Pfleider.

The notion of consent is a gray area of sexual assault. In military and civil law it's not if they said no that matters, it's did they say yes. Pfaleider elaborated stating that saying yes means that there was positive continuous consent.

"The number one reason people don't report it is that they think no one is going to believe them," said Pfaleider. "Think about how paralyzing that statement is."

A member of interACT stated sexual assault is a predatory crime. It's not about sex, it's about power and control and it can affect women and men. Male to male survivors consist of 19 % of Navy sexual assault reports and 26% of Marines.

InterAct provides sexual assault intervention programs for universities, juvenile detention facilities, housing projects, afterschool programs, and drug/alcohol rehabilitation centers since its founding in 2000. The troupe has worked with the Navy since 2014, reaching more than 60,000 sailors worldwide in just one year.

For more information on sexual assault prevention contact your command representative or visit www.sapir.mil or http://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc/SAPR2/s_assault.asp.