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Show 6 TIME S May 5, 2011 HILLTOP TIMES Factors complicate societal attitudes and bring unjustified blame on victims Anne Munch talks to Airmen at a presentation in the Base Theater on April 28 on the influence of the "unnamed conspirator" which becomes a factor in prosecutions, jury selections and influences behaviors. The former prosecutor and now educator on the topic of sexual assault prevention presented compelling information to bring attention to the topic. BY MARY Lou GORNY Hilltop Times editor unnamed conspirator" g g T he may not actually physically enter the courtroom in sexual assault cases, but it influences outcomes there and society at large, said Anne Munch, a former prosecuting attorney and a strong proponent of victims rights at a presentation at the base theater April 28. In a presentation giving surprising details and highlights from court cases and introductions of some general experiences in her own life, Munch made a compelling case for the existence of the unnamed conspirator. She played a rape victim's 911 call in which the victim takes a lion's share of the responsibility for the crime and gave common sense applications of just where society gives the behavior a pass or places the blame on the victim. "I've prosecuted a lot of these cases over the years and I've never had a victim, whether she or he was three years old or 83 years old, who didn't at some level or another, blame themselves for the crime," Munch said. "The truth is you don't have to look too far to see the influence of the unnamed conspirator," she said. The behavior of sexual assault is not always easily identified by those involved, Munch said. In surveys of college students in asking about behavior which fits the Universal Code of Military Justice or other legal descriptions of rape around the country it is found the behavior is not clearly recognized by either male or female college students and in most cases those who do admit to the behavior don't see themselves as rapists. Barely 25 percent of the women who said this behavior had occurred to them — that of having their arm twisted or being held down for sexual intercourse when they didn't want to — recognized this as a sexual assault. Of 8 percent of college students who said they had done or had had the intention of committing such actions, more than 88 percent of such respondents said they did not consider themselves rapists, Munch reported. "What is the problem," she asked? "The rapist is generally thought to be someone you don't know," Munch said as she called out to the audience for descriptions of those typically thought to fit the profile. The problem is that 85 percent of SAAM From page 1 stander education and she praised leadership for taking a proactive stance in trying to end sexual assault. The result of a survey about sexual assault within the Air Force was released last month. According to the survey 18.9 percent of women and 2.1 percent of men have experienced sexual assault while in the Air force. A reported 13.5 percent of women and 3.5 percent of men said that within the last 12 months they had experienced sexual assault. "Less than 1 in 5 women and 1 in 15 men will report the abuse," Munch said. "They don't report it because they didn't think it was serious enough or didn't want their fellow Airmen to know." During the talk Munch discussed how honored she feels to meet survivors and stressed that although she herself has never been the victim of any type of abuse, that she doesn't judge or second guess how they got to where they are now. "I was motivated because of an internship with a Family Crisis Center for abused children," Munch said. "I will never forget the day they handed me a report on a child I'd played with. I read it and went cold; I felt something switch in my soul and knew I would dedicate my life to stop it." She also recounted what she calls a success story from Peterson Air TODD CROMAR U.S. Air Force the time the rapist doesn't fit that category of a weapon carrying unknown attacker who surprises the victim, she said. Historically, 84 percent of the time the victim knew their attacker, Munch said. Most of these crimes go unreported, and in the course of her 90 minute presentation Munch gave statistic after statistic backing up her approach to how the unnamed conspirator influences societal attitudes and complicates prosecutions as juries approach cases. Munch praised Air Force leaders for attending the presentation and praised them for supporting Sexual Assault Response Coordinator Janaee Stone. "In a very recent and very large scale survey that the Air Force just did (we find) that currently 19 percent of the women in the Air Force have been sexually assaulted during their time (in service) and 2 percent of the men," she said. "That's a significant problem," Munch said. In describing an incident in which her own college-aged nephew had gone out celebrating after midterms and was being escorted to a medical clinic by his friends, she praised the behavior of his friends in making sure he was OK and got home all right. She contrasted this to a T-shirt she had seen with a saying on it in which the privilege of taking home a date in Force Base: "A young Air Force man had gone through the men's bystander course and one day was leaving a club at around 2 a.m. As he was walking down the street he saw a woman surrounded by a group of men looking concerned and slightly intoxicated. The men were trying to convince the woman to let them drive her home. She said no continuously but the men would not stop harassing her. That is when that young man made it his mission to protect her. He approached her saying, 'Don't go with them; come with me if you want to live.' She accepted the offer and started walking down the street. The men tried to stop him saying it was their friend. The young man said, 'OK, if she is your friend, what is her name?' The men guessed and were wrong. So the young man walked her down the street and waited with her until a taxi arrived." Munch ended her talk by acknowledging everyone who has been working at Hill to help educate and stop abuse. "This talk is called 'Hurts One Affects All' because sexual assault affects an entire unit. We need to not damage the trust we have in each other. We need to quit blaming the victim," said Munch. "All of us need to step in and prevent sexual assault." For more information about Anne Munch's educational efforts visit her website at annemunch.org . To reach the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator Office at Hill Air Force Base, call (801) 777-1985 or (801) 777-1964. a similar condition was seen as "Priceless." Such attitudes resulting in such actions create a problem and meets her criteria as criminal behavior when it occurs. "It deserves that kind of attention," she said. She played a video of an actor portraying the interview recorded during one of the college surveys — that of a young man who said he and his friends targeted young women, getting them drunk either knowingly or unknowingly so they could take advantage of the situation. It was a clear demonstration in the video, that such results were not the responsibility of the young victims. Yet, as she had presented earlier, they would clearly have a tendency to blame themselves. In other instances, Munch gave clear indications of just where and how far societal attitudes go toward 110 influencing behaviors, jury decisions and victim reporting. Educational efforts and the ability of everyone to use the Wingman concept, as an area of potential change, was an underlying implication. In survey results, even today's youth are being influenced to believe sex against your will is OK, after dating for a 6 month period of time. In the serious presentation, with information presented matter of factly, it is clear there is much work to be done and the opportunity to change many misconsceptions exists even in the Air Force. Educational information was also presented by Munch at the Sexual Assault Awareness Month luncheon that day and at a similar presentation to the Airman in an earlier session. For more information contact the SARC office at (801) 777-1985 or (801) 777-1964. BOUTIQUE !! ottage le FAard. May 4-5-6-7 Show Hours "Mother's Day Boutique" GOLDEN SPIKE EVENT CENTER (Weber County Fairgrounds) 1000 N. 1200 W. 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