The MU Green Dot program is celebrating Green Dot Week with events to engage and teach the public about sexual and relationship violence prevention. The week will end with the Green Dot Conference on Saturday.
The MU Green Dot program is organized through the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center, which trains individuals on what choices can help make campus safer. Its main mission is to teach students how they can end violence through bystander intervention.
Bystander intervention, according to Indiana University’s Division of Student Affairs, “involves developing the awareness, skills, and courage needed to intervene in a situation when another individual needs help. Bystander intervention allows individuals to send powerful messages about what is acceptable and expected behavior in our community.”
Green dots represent behaviors that promote safety for everyone and communicate intolerance for sexual and partner violence and stalking through choices, words and attitudes, according to the RSVP Center’s website. Red dots represent instances of sexual or relationship violence or stalking.
Green Dot Week events offer resources for whoever wants to learn more about the Green Dot program and the training for combating red dots on campus.
Green Dot has utilized social media throughout the week to connect with the community through sharing stories, articles, advertisements and YouTube videos.
On Tuesday, Green Dot volunteers had a table set up to spread awareness in the Student Center in the triangle space.
“We want folks to stop by our table to get a refresher and learn more about bystander intervention,” said Christopher Walters, prevention coordinator at the RSVP Center. “We do these active engagement events to get people to think about how they can change the community for the better, even through the simplest acts.”
The main event of the week is the conference, which will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The location is given once you register to attend the event. You can register online at either the RSVP website or on OrgSync. The event is not just a lecture, Walters said. There will be opportunities to practice real-life skills to use if students ever find themselves in a bystander position.
“At the conference, we will be discussing situations from all different perspectives, not just from me; I haven’t gone to college in a long time,” Walters said. “So we’ll hear stories from a variety of bystander lenses so people know what green dots look like. You can help someone just by asking, ‘Are you okay?’”
To learn more about the Green Dot program, the Green Dot Conference or the RSVP Center, visit the spring [Green Dot Conference sign-up page](https://orgsync.com/106001/events/2295385/occurrences/5489860) or the [RSVP Center’s website](https://rsvp.missouri.edu/get-educated/).
_Edited by Alexandra Sharp | asharp@themaneater.com_
