Green Dots

Our Mission:

Green Dots at Vanderbilt aims to decrease power-based personal violence on campus by utilizing education, outreach, and staff development as mechanisms for increasing awareness and competency around bystander intervention skills.

Green Dots at Vanderbilt aspires to:

• Integrate into all aspects of campus life,
• Increase faculty and staff support;
• Demonstrate cultural competency to better serve diverse populations; and
• Implement best practices to enhance programmatic efforts.

Why the Green Dot?

A green dot symbolizes a single moment in time that can be used to end perpetration or support victims of power-based personal violence.  Through your words, choices and actions in any given moment, you can add a green dot to our map–interupting a potential incidence of power-based personal violence, or a red dot–and make a difference.  Adding a green dot will increase community safety for everyone.  If each of us adds 1 or 2 or 5 or 100 green dots, we will reduce the perpetration of violence–one green dot at a time.

Green dots are divided into two categories: proactive and reactive.  Proactive green dots are things people can do to prevent power-based personal violence from happening; reactive green dots are things people can do to intervene in a red dot situation.  You may find examples of proactive and reactive green dots below.  For more information about resources for someone who has experienced power-based personal violence, please click here.

Proactive Green Dots:

• Have conversations about ending power-based personal violence with your friends
• Wear a green dots button
• Do a paper or class class assignment on power-based personal violence prevention
• Look out for friends at parties, bars, online and in other high-risk situations
• Attend power-based personal violence prevention events
• Believe that power-based personal violence is unacceptable and say it out loud
• Work to bring an education program to your class, group, team or organization
• Volunteer with your local service providers
• Check in with friends if you are concerned about their safety and connect them to help
• Put green dot information on your Facebook page and your email signature line
• Display a green dot cling on your window
• Tell other people about your green dots
• Talk about green dots to one new person each week

Reactive Green Dots:

• If I suspect that my friend is in an abusive relationship, I ask her/him and provide information about resources available.
• If I suspect a friend has been sexually assaulted, I let her/him know I am here if they want to talk.
• If I hear someone yelling and fighting, I call 911.
• If I see someone spike another person’s drink, I stop them and call police or get someone else to.
• If I see a friend grab, push or insult a potential victim, I say something, go get help or get someone else to.
• If I see a stranger grab, push or insult someone, I say something or go get help or get someone else to.
• If I see a friend take an intoxicated person up the stairs, I stop and ask what is going on – or create a distraction to interrupt the situation.
• If someone appears upset, I ask if they are okay.
• If I see hurtful information about someone I know online, I tell them about it.
• If I notice someone has a large bruise, I ask how they were hurt.
• If I see a person sexually assaulting another person, I intervene.
• I talk to my friends about consent… and how they should wait until their partner verbalizes his/her feelings.
• If I hear about or see people bullying someone online, I intervene.
• If I choose to leave a party early, I account for the people I came with.
• I share statistics with my friends about power-based personal violence.
• If someone needs my help and I don’t have the answer, I tap my resources and find someone who does.
• I work to ensure organizations I am involved in collaborate with prevention efforts on campus.
• I take the opportunity to write papers or give speeches in class about the issue of violence.
• I strike up conversations with my friends about the importance of intervening in potentially high-risk situations.
• If I hear what sounds like yelling or fighting through my dorm or apartment walls, I talk with an RA or someone else who can help.
• Educate myself about power-based personal violence and what I can do about it.
• Encourage a friend to get the Green Dot Bystander training.