DOD INSTRUCTION 6400.09
D
OD POLICY ON INTEGRATED PRIMARY PREVENTION OF
S
ELF-DIRECTED HARM AND PROHIBITED ABUSE OR HARM
Originating Component: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
Effective:
Change 1 Effective:
Releasability:
September 11, 2020
July 30, 2025
Cleared for public release. Available on the Directives Division Website
at https://www.esd.whs.mil/DD/.
Incorporates and Cancels: See Paragraph 1.4.
Approved by: Matthew P. Donovan, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and
Readiness
Change 1 Approved by: Merlynn Carson, Performing the Duties of the Deputy Under Secretary of
Defense for Personnel and Readiness
Purpose: In accordance with the authority in DoD Directive (DoDD) 5124.02, this issuance:
• Establishes and integrates policies and responsibilities to mitigate self-directed harm and prohibited
abusive or harmful acts using a career-cycle perspective to promote enduring force readiness.
• Leverages existing capabilities, where possible, to establish a DoD-wide prevention system that
facilitates data-informed actions to integrate primary prevention activities to prevent self-directed harm
and prohibited abusive or harmful acts.
• Focuses prevention efforts on research-based programs, policies, and practices.
• Identifies the Prevention Collaboration Forum (PCF) as the governance body to oversee this policy
and assess the prevention system and data-informed actions.
• Implements Section 540D of Public Law (P.L.) 116-92.
• Adapts and applies the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s framework for sexual violence
prevention to comply with Government Accountability Office-18-33 Recommendation 1 to include
specific risk and protective factors, risk domains, and tertiary strategies for harassment prevention.
