Bystander Intervention Explained: Curbing Campus Sexual Assault By Changing Social Norms
ByA lot is being made of late about rape and sexual misconduct prevention on college campuses, but one strategy in particular can be a bit unclear.
Bystander intervention goes beyond walking a drunk peer to their room and includes not partaking in sexually biased jokes or the spread of a lewd photo. Lauded for its sexual assault policies, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) teaches bystander intervention to all first-year students.
According to U.S. News and World Report, bystander intervention can be boiled down to interrupting "a potentially harmful situation." Experts and victim advocates have said it now includes changing certain social norms.
"It is common for people to witness situations where someone makes an inappropriate sexual comment or innuendo, tells a rape joke, or touches someone in a sexual manner," Tracy Cox, spokeswoman for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, told U.S. News. "Bystanders who witness these behaviors can intervene in a way that will help create a safer environment."
For their campaign to curb campus sexual assault, the Obama Administration tabbed UNH to help craft policy reforms for federally funded schools to adopt. Green Dot offers tips on intervening in potentially dangerous situations.
For example, it is best to act directly and in groups, like finding a few friends to randomly chat up someone who is hitting on an inebriated peer. Or just being deliberate with someone is just as effective.
"It doesn't have to be this politically correct, 'Hey man, real men don't get girls drunk,'" Dorothy Edwards, Green Dot's executive director, told U.S. News. "Once we acknowledge the barriers and assure them that they don't have to get over them and give them realistic options, suddenly kids are stepping up in incredible ways."
The Obama Administration also launched its "It's On Us" campaign, appealing to young men to take publicly take a stand against sexual violence.