The Green Dot program, a campaign created to encourage bystanders to become involved in preventing rape and sexual assault on campus, will launch on Oct. 29.
The program, which started at the University of Kentucky, encourages bystanders to take a more active role in ending sexual assault by thinking of moments in time as dots.
Eric Smith, director of Health Promotion and Wellness services, said he’s excited about the program because of its positive message.
“Our message that we’ve developed is called ‘We Dot Auburn,’” Smith said. “It’s this notion that was as Auburn University aren’t going to tolerate violence.”
Smith said the program focuses on thinking of moments in time as red and green dots.
Red dots occur when violence occurs and no one steps in.There are two types of green dots: proactive and reactive. Proactive green dots occur when a person seeks out information and spreads it to others. A reactive green dot occurs when a person reacts to a situation to make a positive impact.
The goal of the program is to cover “our campus map in green dots” and to encourage bystanders to get more involved in preventing violence, according to Smith.
“We’re all going to do something small, something little that’s going to equate to a huge cultural change,” Smith said. “[This will] give us all something to do to actually prevent sexual assault.”
This new program is a departure from how sexual assault prevention has been taught in the past, according to Smith.
“Traditionally, when we talk about sexual assault prevention and education, we kind of say to women, ‘Protect yourself,’” Smith said. “Like watch who you’re with, watch what you wear, watch what you drink.”
Smith said this stuff puts the blame on women for “being the victim of sexual assault” or it puts “the responsibility on them to protect themselves.”
The Green Dot program will encourage bystanders to take a more active role in these situations, according to Smith.
“We know that about one in four women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime and in their time in college,” Smith said. “So that one in four number always rings in my head.”
Out of the majority of people, about five percent of men are rapists, according to Smith.
“When you look at those numbers, we are essentially leaving out this vast majority of people,” Smith said. “Those are the people that Green Dot is targeted for. We want and need those people to stand up and actually do something...when they’re confronted with violence, [we want them]to speak up, to say something.”
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