Every member of our university deserves a space free of harassment and prejudice. To create that environment, it takes everyone standing up and raising their voice when they encounter incidents of harassment or bullying. By using bystander intervention, we can work together as a community to build an inclusive culture that celebrates and supports our diverse university community.

What is ‘bystander intervention’?

To put it formally, bystander intervention is prosocial behaviour used to intervene in negative situations. What that looks like in practice is saying or doing something when you see someone around you say or do something that is damaging to our community. This project is specifically working on bystander intervention as a means to tackle gender based violence (sexual harassment, violence, assault) but don’t let that limit you! Bystander intervention is a great means to tackle issues of racism, islamophobia, ableism, or other discriminatory behaviours you see.

3 steps for Bystander Intervention

Distract: Prevent an incident by distracting people from the topic

Direct: If you see a problem, step in and stop an incident from escalating

Delegate: If you can't solve the problem yourself, find a member of staff or friend who can help

Take the training here