On March 26, 2015, the University launched its partnership with Green Dot, an organization that focuses on sexual assault prevention through bystander intervention.
The very next month, students took the 2015 Campus Climate Survey, which indicated that nearly a quarter of undergraduate women at U.Va. have experienced sexual assault or sexual misconduct during their time at the University.
Green Dot has now been in place for a full academic year, but the degree to which it has shifted the culture surrounding power-based violence is difficult to evaluate.
Rachel Kiliany, program coordinator for prevention in the Office of the Dean of Students and central coordinator for the Green Dot program on Grounds, said she is optimistic after seeing an enthusiastic response from students both inside and outside of trainings.
“Students are spreading the knowledge and skills they learn in the Green Dot trainings,” Kiliany said in an email statement. “When I go to staff meetings at the corner merchants to talk about the #HOOSGotYourBack campaign, I have found that many of the student employees already know the 3Ds of bystander intervention that are outlined in the Green Dot curriculum.”
The “3Ds” Kiliany referred to stand for direct, delegate and distract — a shorthand for the active bystander strategy the group promotes.
For Simran Batra, a second-year College student who participated in bystander training last spring, the most empowering aspect of Green Dot training was how it showed her to intervene in dangerous situations in subtle, less intimidating ways.
“Our trainer really emphasized using strategies that fit your personality — so if you’re not as outgoing, there’s still ways that you can distract people,” she said.
Kiliany’s office has arranged overview talks, as well as facilitator and bystander trainings with a wide spectrum of the University community, from individual students and faculty to groups like Student Council and Greek Life. Groups can request these trainings and talks or report their own Green Dot interventions through the Dean of Students’ Not On Our Grounds webpage.
Green Dot is an international program, adopted by not only colleges but also high schools and the U.S. Air Force.
At the University of Kentucky, a team of researchers decided to evaluate the benefits of Green Dot on their own campus. They found that, in comparison with two campuses that lacked any kind of bystander intervention training, the incidences of many forms of sexual violence were significantly lower on the campus which had received Green Dot training.
However, one of the researchers, Heather Bush, was quick to point out these lower rates of sexual assault and misconduct only applied to years characterized by active participation in Green Dot programming.
“This suggests that Green Dot training, and perhaps bystander intervention training, in general, is not a one-and-done deal,” Bush said in an email statement. “In other words, to realize the promise of bystander programs, campuses may need to maintain a commitment to this type of programming to see continued impacts on sexual violence over time.”
Kiliany said that the University will be taking part in the National Green Dot Day of Action by hosting a series of six-hour bystander trainings on Sept. 18, followed by four more trainings through the fall semester.
“I’m really excited to see how the movement continues into the school year, as well as expand ways for students to get involved,” she said.
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