Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy – Trinity College

A Green Dot is the moment it takes to make a choice to do something, anything to make it less likely that someone gets hurt or that shows the people around you that you don’t tolerate violence and are doing your part to prevent it.

The Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy is a national program that trains students, faculty, and staff in bystander intervention to help prevent instances of power-based personal violence (PBPV). PBPV is a form of violence where one individual asserts power, control, or intimidation over another to cause harm, including dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and harassment. When these moments occur on our campus, they’re called red dots.

A “Green Dot” is any action, choice, or attitude that stops, counters, or displaces a “red dot,” reducing the likelihood that someone will be hurt.  The Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy promotes safety for everyone in the Trinity community, but also sends a clear message that we do not tolerate violence on our campus.

Everyone will be a bystander at some point, and Green Dot provides the resources and tools to help you.  Green Dot encourages individuals to make a choice to do something when they see a “red dot” happening.  The Prevention Strategy works on at the individual level to create a culture change.  Momentum is created when individuals each make small choices against violence, seeing themselves as acting in conjunction as part of a bigger moment.  These small choices then become the cultural norm, creating a community that does not tolerate and will not sustain violence.

Currently eight members of the Trinity College community are Green Dot certified trainers; they comprise our Green Dot Team, coordinated by the WGRAC director, Laura Lockwood. We strive to bring Green Dot’s safe bystander intervention skills and values to the entire campus through interactive workshops, presentations, and activities. Recently activity examples are Green Dot’s collaboration with our Track & Field Team at the Invitational in April (athletes used green batons and students distributed Green Dot merch) , and,  the Green Dot Women’s Ice Hockey game in February.

Follow us on Instagram @trincollgreendot

Content adapted from Middlebury College and Alteristic Green Dot.