Northeastern’s Violence Intervention, Support and Outreach Network (ViSION) brings together a network of campus and community allies focused on providing prevention response, and education for sexual assault and all types of violence for Northeastern students. The major on-campus allies are University Health and Counseling Services (UHCS), Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (OSCCR), Residential Life, the Northeastern University Public Safety Division (NUPD), and the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity (OIDE). The network allows students to seek services and support from numerous entry points.
ViSION offers:
- Training and education in prevention and response to sexual assault, interpersonal violence, stalking and hate crimes;
- Access to immediate and confidential medical and counseling services;
- Referral to compassionate and skilled legal services;
- Public awareness presentations; and
- Assistance and support in planning campus organizations’ programming on sexual assault and other violence awareness.
BYSTANDER BEHAVIOR
Being proactive in situations when another person is at risk is known as bystander behavior. Reacting
in situations when another person may be facing harm doesn’t have to be some heroic act or a potentially endangering situation for the person who chooses to do or say something. Here are some
examples of bystander behavior:
- The gesture of walking a friend home who has been drinking, ensuring that they get home safely;
- Calling for help if someone is very intoxicated rather than letting them pass out with potentially toxic blood alcohol content levels;
- Stepping in when someone tries to get your friend’s phone number and you know that friend has had too much to drink; and
- Intervening when you see an intoxicated friend leaving a bar or party with someone she doesn’t know.
These are opportunities to act or react and safely change an outcome.
We are all responsible for each other and while speaking up or saying something can sometimes be difficult, ultimately, being proactive means that you’re watching out for your friend, someone’s brother, sister, girlfriend or boyfriend. If you think someone is in trouble, ask them if they’re okay. If
you don’t feel comfortable acting on your own, ask someone else for help—another friend, a police officer, an RA.
The Office of Prevention and Education at Northeastern (OPEN) is looking for student leaders to sustain and broaden efforts around the peer–led Red Watch Band training, aimed at preventing death and injury from serious alcohol intoxication. Contact open@neu.edu for more information.
Opportunities for involvement are also available through ViSION. Contact vision@neu.edu or check out our website (http://www.northeastern.edu/vision/) and learn more about us and how you can get involved in changing the campus community.
Post by: Christine Civiletto, Psychologist, Coordinator of Sexual Assault Services at UHCS