USCG Academy working to prevent sex assault - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

USCG Academy working to prevent sex assault

NEW LONDON, Conn. — The Coast Guard Academy in New London is taking new steps to prevent student sexual assault.

Superintendent Rear Adm. Sandra Stosz has hired a sexual assault response coordinator, and training is being revamped to help cadets protect themselves.

Stosz tells The Day of New London the academy is putting on training to address the behaviors that lead up to sexual assault, particularly underage drinking, and making victims feel comfortable coming forward to get help.

A Defense Department student survey on gender relations indicates that 40 percent of female cadets in 2012 reported experiencing sexual harassment. The figure for male cadets was 10 percent.

Seven instances of sexual offenses were investigated during the 2011-12 school year, including some that did not occur at the academy.

Stosz told the newspaper for Sunday’s editions that she was surprised nearly 10 percent of the female cadets surveyed said they had experienced unwanted sexual contact. Stosz said she wished the survey provided more context, particularly whether the contact had happened once or multiple times.

“At a time when they’re exploring their identity, it’s somewhat natural to have people experiment with what it takes to attract a person of the opposite sex,” Stosz said. “If, one time, a guy or gal is clumsy or stupid and tries to touch someone and they’re repulsed, they learn. Someone who goes around and keeps trying many times, that’s a different kind of behavior than someone who is awkward and experimenting.”

The new sexual assault response coordinator, Shannon Norenberg, began work at the campus in New London last month. She previously held a similar position at Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina.