Sexual Assault Escape Room Created at Fort Bragg to Educate Soldiers

In an effort to promote understanding during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, officials at Fort Bragg launched a sexual assault escape room. The purpose of the room is to educate soldiers on sexual assault in the military, the prevention program in place, and the resources available to members of the military who have been assaulted.

The 16th Military Police Brigade is the group behind the escape room at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The idea for the escape room came in an effort to make the annual training on the topic a little easier to endure for all. Sgt. 1st Class Ashley Savage said the following about the Army Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention (SHARP) program:

“Our escape room is a training event,” she said, “and a way for a squad or team to come together in a non-traditional learning environment to ensure important elements of the SHARP program are understood.”

The escape room basics

The main goal of the escape room provided for soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg was for soldiers to learn how to help their friend escape the chains that hold them down because of sexual assault and harassment. The escape room was built in a conference room on the base that had posters and other informational content about sexual assault and prevention that the soldiers could use to help them answer questions.

“A role player will be in the room in a chair secured with chains and fastened with combination or key locks,” Savage said. “Teams must answer SHARP related questions to unlock their teammate and escape the room.”

The idea of the role player chained to the chair is to show the players of the game that the role player is someone who has survived sexual assault or harassment and needs help finding resources and not someone who is in danger of being a victim of sexual harassment or assault.

To further explain the escape room, Savage said that the chains are to represent the obstacles that sexual assault victims face. To take it one step further, the work in the escape room is to show soldiers that victims do not have to fight alone.

Fort Bragg may be onto something

The Fort Bragg escape room, the first of its kind in the Army to Savage’s knowledge, is a novel idea and one that she hopes helps raise awareness during training that can be very difficult to endure. Savage wanted to use a popular trend throughout the country as part of this year’s sexual assault prevention training offered at Fort Bragg. This is a great start for educating soldiers on sexual assault in the military, which has a dark past.

For the most part, none of the Army bases in California employed an escape room to help with sexual assault training in the month of April. It would be a smart idea for staffers at Fort Irwin, Camp Haan Army Base, Sierra Army Depot, Camp Roberts Army Base and other military bases in California to explore this idea for next year’s training.

The team from Taylor & Ring understands how difficult it can be to talk about sexual assault and harassment. We empathize with our clients and fight for their best interests at all times. Call our office at 310-776-6390 to schedule a free consultation or fill out the contact form on the website and a member of the firm will get back to you as soon as possible.