Air Force Rolls Out Anti-Violence Campaign

The Air Force has contracted the anti-violence nonprofit Green Dot to help it reduce interpersonal violence, including sexual assault, over the next three years. Some 1,500 airmen implementers will attend one of 22 Green Dot prep sessions this month. The implementers, who are expected to complete training by March, will then return to their bases to train peer leaders who will be responsible for training all other airmen, according to a Dec. 30 Air Force release. Green Dot prepares organizations to implement a violence prevention strategy “that consistently, measurably reduces power-based personal violence, including sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, child abuse, and bullying, according to the organization’s website. “Green Dot is the Air Force’s first step in arming airmen for violence prevention using an evidence-based public health model,” said Dr. Andra Tharp, a? USAF prevention expert. “Although that sounds complicated, really what it means is that we know airmen are a vital part of the solution and we will use methods like this that have been subjected to rigorous scientific testing and were proven to be effective in reducing violence.”