FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. — Fairchild Air Force Base wants to empower sexual assault victims to speak up. That's why they've implemented a new reporting program called CATCH.
Under Team Fairchild's Sexual Assault Prevention Response team, a victim can choose to file a restricted or unrestricted report. A restricted report means it will not trigger an investigation.
When a victim files a report, they can choose to participate in the new CATCH program.
It gives victims making a restricted report an opportunity to anonymously enter suspect information into its database. The SAPR team will notify them when there is a match between the person who committed the sexual assault and another victim's report.
Then, they can choose to change their report from restricted to unrestricted, prompting an investigation.
Oftentimes victims don't come forward right away. Some of the most common reasons are not being personally ready and fear of others' disbelief.
Under the CATCH program, victims can come forward and be able to see they are not alone.
According to SAPR. when victims are informed of a match, there's a potential they may be more willing to have their report investigated.
Names of victims remain confidential in the CATCH database and throughout the reporting process. If the they decide to change the report to unrestricted, their information, including their identity, is pulled and used only for official investigations.
With the use of CATCH, military investigators have a more efficient process of identifying serial perpetrators, and prevent future assaults.