What Is Bystander Intervention?
Bystander Intervention is a sexual assault prevention program that focuses on the importance of prosocial bystander behaviors. The program seeks to empower Boston College students to stand up and speak out to prevent instances of rape and sexual assault from occurring.
Program Objectives
As a result of participating in Bystander Intervention education, students will be able to:
- Define sexual violence and identify examples of it.
- Articulate ways that they can actively prevent situations that might lead to sexual violence.
- Develop safe, effective, and personal plans to combat situations that could lead to sexual violence.
- Execute such plans if a situation arises that merits action.
- Recognize the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, jokes, and images.
- Identify professional bystanders (i.e., police, counselors, healthcare professionals).
Learn More About Bystander Behavior and Sexual Assault Prevention
The "Bystander Effect"
Research has shown that several factors influence whether or not bystanders are likely to help a person in need. People are more likely to step in if they can easily recognize that a situation is wrong, are directly asked to help, and witness others helping. People in a large group are less likely to help because everyone assumes someone else will step in.
Bystander Experiments
These videos put bystanders to the test in several different situations. What would you do?
- In this clip, NBC sets up a fake abduction to see how Bystanders react.
Bystander and Sexual Assault Prevention
This video shows how the silence of bystanders can allow for assault to happen. It also shows a variety of techniques bystanders can use to prevent sexual assault.
Techniques for Intervention
Hopefully these videos give you a sense of how important it is for bystanders to speak out! Here are some suggestions on how to intervene. We encourage you to intervene in a way that feels comfortable to you. Please call in professional bystanders, like the police, if ever you feel unsafe!
If you see a friend or a stranger in a situation that doesn’t seem right, you could:
- Distract: Redirect the focus elsewhere. At a party for example, you could spill a drink, put on a popular song, or ask someone to take a picture.
- Separate: Separate the people involved. You could ask someone to dance, ask your friend to come with you to the bathroom or to grab late night food.
- Recruit: Ask others for help. You could recruit the help of your own friends or friends of the people who are involved in the situation. This is especially helpful if you don’t really know the people involved. Depending on the situation you may also want to recruit a professional bystander, like the police.
Derogatory language contributes to a culture of sexual violence. A rape joke, for example, can minimize someone’s experience as well as normalize that type of behavior. If you hear a friend use the word rape casually, or tell a homophobic, sexist, or racist joke, you could:
- Reframe: Respond as if you’re coming from a place of concern for that friend. For instance, you might say something like “Hey, Tom, you might offend someone by telling that type of joke. I just don’t want people to get a wrong impression of you.”
- Use “I” statements: When using “I” statements, you want to state your feelings, name the behavior, and state how you want the person to respond. This focuses on your feelings rather than on criticizing the other person. “I feel really uncomfortable when you talk about hooking up with drunk girls. I’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t talk about that, at least in front of me.”
Bystander Community Pledge
Listen
- I will listen with open ears, an open mind, and an open heart to others’ perspectives and experiences.
- I will listen to those most marginalized and underrepresented and share the knowledge I gain from them.
Educate
- I will educate myself and the Boston College community about the importance of consent and how to recognize when it can and cannot be given.
- I will continuously seek to identify all aspects of my privilege, how my individual actions can translate into different forms of oppression, and how to effectively use my privilege to both interrupt and prevent that oppression.
- I will educate myself and others on how to dismantle oppression, including actions that are rooted in sexual violence and hate speech. I recognize that these injustices are rooted in sexism, racism, ableism, homophobia, and many other forms of oppression.
- I will share Boston College campus resources, such as the SANet hotline and the CARE team.
Act
- I will act when I witness red flags for perpetration of oppression and violence by using intervention techniques such as recruiting, separating, and distracting.
- I will act with respect and compassion towards others, working to be a resource, ally, and friend to those who need one.
Support
I will support survivors on and off Boston College’s campus by believing them, listening to them, and empowering them in any way they may need.
I will support my own emotional and physical needs, keeping in mind that practicing self-care and checking in with myself will make me a more effective ally.
In summary, I will support everyone in the Boston College community by listening, continuing to learn, intervening whenever I perceive any form of oppression, and committing to fostering an inclusive and safe environment for all.
Sexual Misconduct Definitions
Sexual Misconduct is a broad term that encompasses sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other forms of misconduct and violence of a sexual nature. Sexual misconduct can occur between individuals who know each other, have an established relationship, have previously engaged in consensual sexual activity, and between individuals who do not know each other. Sexual misconduct can be committed by persons of any gender identity, and it can occur between people of the same or different gender.
- Rape is the act of physically forcing or otherwise compelling oral, vaginal, or anal penetration through threats, coercion, or without seeking or receiving enthusiastic and continual consent.
- Sexual assault is any sexual contact or sexual penetration with another individual without consent.
- Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
- Stalking is a course of behavior directed at a person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety, or suffer substantial emotional distress.
- Sexual exploitation is taking sexual advantage of another person and includes recording, photographing, or transmitting images of private sexual activity and/or the intimate parts of a person without consent.
- Intimate partner violence is any act of violence or a pattern of abusive behavior in an intimate relationship. It may include actual or threatened physical violence, sexual violence, psychological or emotional abuse, and progressive social isolation.
- Consent is the clear and voluntary agreement to engage in specific acts of sexual contact or activity, communicated through mutually understandable words or actions. Consent is always freely informed and actively given. Silence or lack of resistance cannot be assumed to imply consent. Consent must be ongoing, and it may be withdrawn at any time. Consent for one sexual act does not imply consent for any subsequent sexual activity. If confusion or ambiguity arises during a sexual interaction, it is imperative that the behavior stop and the person initiating the activity has the other person’s consent to continue. Consent may never be obtained:
a) from an individual who is incapacitated;
b) through the use of coercion or force; or
c) from a person who is under the legal age to give consent (16 years of age in Massachusetts).