The Penn State Center for Women Students will host a talk by Dorothy Edwards, founder of the Green Dot bystander intervention campaign, on Tuesday, Sept. 9.
The Green Dot strategy is a comprehensive approach to violence prevention that capitalizes on the power of peer and cultural influence across all levels of the socio-ecological model.
"Issues surrounding violence and how to prevent it can seem daunting," said Jennifer Pencek, programming coordinator of the Center for Women Students. "But the focus of this event is to show that each person really can have a huge impact in violence prevention and in making a difference.”
Informed by social change theory, the Green Dot model targets all community members as potential bystanders and seeks to engage them through awareness, education and skills-practice in proactive behaviors that establish intolerance of violence as the norm, as well as reactive intervention in high-risk situations, resulting in the ultimate reduction of violence.
“There are a lot of ways people can play a role in violence prevention, and we encourage people to attend this event and hear Dorothy speak about what we all can do,” Pencek said. “Violence impacts all of us, and we all can play roles in preventing it.”
The talk will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9 in Heritage Hall in the HUB-Robeson Center and is funded by UPAC.