Gender Violence Prevention and Education Services
Founded in 2018 by the Center for Women and Gender Equity and the Office of Health and Wellness, Gender Violence Prevention and Education Services (GVPES) seeks to foster a culture that prioritizes consent and respect and actively responds to survivors by supporting them and their allies. As part of these efforts, the GVPES works to engage students, faculty, staff, and community partners to create an environment where violence of any kind will not be tolerated.
Transportation for Survivors
We are proud to announce that we are now able to provide free transportation services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to student, faculty, and staff survivors of sexual assault to facilitate their access to medical care. Being able to address this critical community need has been made possible in collaboration with the Office of Health and Wellness, Ziggy Zooms, and The Cocoon, enhancing the safety and well-being of the Bowling Green community.
Ziggy Zooms employees have undergone a background check and have been reviewed and signed off by two licensed social workers in the State of Ohio, and one doctor of psychology with experience in the Title IX field. These professionals evaluated candidates and team members to ensure they possess the requisite skills, sensitivity, and understanding necessary for working effectively with student survivors of sexual assault. Additionally, all associates of Ziggy Zooms involved in this collaboration have undergone comprehensive training designed by The Cocoon. This training is specifically tailored to equip Ziggy Zooms' associates with the necessary skills and knowledge to support the survivors effectively and sensitively.
The Cocoon will manage a dedicated 24/7 hotline for survivors. Upon receiving calls for a transportation request, The Cocoon will dispatch these calls to Ziggy Zooms' specialized 24/7 hotline. Ziggy Zooms, in turn, will provide prompt transportation services within the Toledo Metropolitan area, covering a 30-mile radius within the state of Ohio. This arrangement ensures that survivors receive timely and reliable support for needed transportation services, within a specified and accessible geographic scope.
To access transportation services, please call 419-373-1730 option 2.
Gender Violence Prevention and Education Services (GVPES) envisions a community at BGSU and in Ohio, the nation, and the world free of power-based violence.
GVPES is dedicated to preventing and addressing power-based personal violence on campus by working with students, staff, faculty, and community partners to foster a culture that prioritizes consent, respect, and actively responds to survivors by supporting them and their allies.
Power-based personal violence includes stalking, dating and domestic violence, and sexual assault. This affects many lives, both directly and indirectly, regardless of one's gender identity, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, religion, citizenship status, marital status, ability, education level or affiliation.
A coalition of departments, offices, and community members at BGSU have partnered with the national initiative The Green Dot Strategy to address sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and stalking through bystander education and intervention. The Green Dot strategy aims to shift campus culture and increase proactive preventative behavior by targeting influential members from across a community with basic education, skill practice, and reactive interventions to high-risk situations. Every choice to be proactive as a bystander is categorized as a “new behavior” and thus a “Green Dot.” Individual decisions (green dots) group together to create larger change.
Events
If you or someone you know has experienced domestic violence, dating violence, or sexual assault, contact the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800.799.7233 for 24/7 confidential support year-round. CWGE also houses a part-time Sexual Violence Advocate from The Cocoon - to reach an advocate 24/7 please call 419.373.1730 (press option #2 at prompt). BGSU students, staff, and faculty members may also contact the Office of Title IX at BGSU to file a report and learn more about options and local resources - note that while information will be handled with sensitivity, full confidentiality cannot be maintained through the course of a Title IX investigation.
Updated: 02/03/2025 01:38PM