The new Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office is the Defense Department’s central point of accountability for sexual assault incidents, the office’s deputy director, Dr. Kaye Whitley, said. “We focus only on (sexual) assault, not harassment, in the military,” Whitley said. The SAPR office’s mission, Whitley said, is threefold: (1) to reduce the number of sexual assaults in the armed forces, including the service academies; (2) to help sexual assault victims obtain care; and (3) to make offenders accountable. Trained sexual assault response coordinators assigned at military installations worldwide are available to help victims obtain medical care, counseling and access to other support resources, Whitley said. The chain of command is kept in the loop, since the sexual assault response coordinators have direct access to senior installation commanders, said Roger Kaplan, the SAPR office’s director of communications.