The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) manual states that the purpose of military law is "to promote justice, to assist in maintaining good order and discipline in the armed forces, to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the military establishment, and thereby to strengthen the national security of the United States."
The SAPR program addresses the criminal offenses of rape, sexual assault, aggravated sexual contact, abusive sexual contact, and non-consensual sodomy; details regarding these offenses may be found in UCMJ Articles 120 and 125, and attempts in Article 80.
Exclusions to SAPR areas of responsibility include:
- Intimate partner sexual assaults and child sexual assaults are handled by the DoD Family Advocacy Program (FAP).
- The SAPR program does not address sexual harassment, which is handled by the DoD Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity (ODMEO).
- Military Sexual Trauma (MST), which is a term that encompasses trauma from both sexual assault and sexual harassment, is terminology utilized by the Department of Veterans Affairs to assess healthcare needs and disability claims.
Find the UCMJ Articles relevant to sexual assault prevention and response, and the full UCMJ manual below.