‘Girls Night Out’ event promotes sexual-assault awareness Published June 18, 2012 By Petty Officer 1st Class Nathan L. Guimont Center for Information Dominance Unit Monterey MONTEREY, Calif. -- -- Military and civilian women within the Monterey community participated in a program called "Girls Night Out" at the Presidio of Monterey Weckerling Center in April. The focus of the event was to provide Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program information to the attendees on how to keep themselves healthy and safe, and to demonstrate how to prevent sexual assault and other issues women face on a daily basis. Donna Casey, the SARC at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, said that it is hard being a woman in the military. SARC is the acronym for Sexual Assault Response Coordinator. "We want to equip military women to be the best they can be," said Casey. "The premise of the SARC program is to inform ladies to help prevent sexual assault, but to also let them know that if they're sexually assaulted to know that we're here for them and to help them through the process of recovering from such a traumatic experience." The evening consisted of numerous guest speakers discussing different resources available to victims of sexual assault as well as personal accounts of sexual assault. Air Force Capt. Elbert Laza, the Presidio of Monterey SARC, who put on the event, wanted to bring local women from the various Department of Defense branches together to raise awareness and to give them an avenue to know there are other supporting agencies, besides the military, they have access to. "This event is not only to explain the SAPR program for the military," said Laza, "but also to involve the civil community, so ... they understand ... if they don't feel comfortable talking to the military, for whatever reason, they have access to resources outside the military." The "Girls Night Out" event was originally developed by Casey at Goodfellow Air Force Base. Both Casey and Laza wanted to bring the event to the Monterey area and talk about the available resources with the women here. In addition to the serious subjects covered, there were door prizes, Zumba dancing, food and games. "I wanted to step away from the normal SARC briefings that we are accustomed to getting in the military," said Laza. "We want to give the women here a chance to put their hair down and to have fun with leadership. Put down the ranks, in a fun environment, and educate them and to hopefully make them feel more comfortable with their leadership in an environment outside of work." Sheree Goldman, the Sexual Assault Response Team coordinator for the Monterey County Health Department, attended the event to promote safety and to educate women on ways to prevent a sexual-assault incident and what resources are available to help them. "Statistics show that one in six women is sexually assaulted in their lifetime," said Goldman. "We want to let them know we are here for them, and we want to help protect their best interests." Casey shared some final thoughts for anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault. "A lot of times victims of sexual assault think they can handle the issue on their own and it will go away. ... That's not the case. Once it happens, it stays with you forever, and you're really a survivor, but it's never going to go away." She said it is "good for victims to deal with it and to seek help from someone who is willing to listen empathically and to reassure them that it's not their fault and they shouldn't blame themselves for what happened." Sexual assault does not just affect the victim, whose life can be radically altered; it also has repercussions throughout the military. "It helps to understand why victims feel the way they do," Casey said, "because it's going to carry over into their military career, and once someone has been sexually assaulted, they are more prone to be assaulted again."
