大象传媒

A few months ago, my mum and I were out late one evening walking our dog. We walked down a dimly lit, quiet street, and saw a shadow in the distance. We came across someone who I read as a young woman. She looked extremely nervous waiting for the bus, as she fidgeted with her phone, paced back and forth, and kept looking around at her surroundings. As my mum and I got closer, the woman鈥檚 discomfort became more apparent.

鈥淎re you okay, sweetie?鈥�, my mum asked. The young woman responded, saying that she was extremely nervous and afraid of waiting for the . Her bus was really late, it was dark, and a strange man kept walking up and down the street, making her noticeably uncomfortable. My mum and I asked her if it was okay for us to wait with her until her bus came and she was so happy that we offered. We waited with her until her bus came and when it did, with tears welling up in her eyes and a huge smile beaming on her face, she nearly tackled both my mum and I with hugs.

As my mum and I watched the woman board her bus, we walked back home in silence.

Being a bystander is easy, but being an  can often pose as a challenge. Many of us have been bystanders before, but not all of us can say that we actively intervened in harmful situations鈥攁nd that鈥檚 okay. In the words of Will Smith from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, we鈥檙e programmed to 鈥榤ind ya business鈥� and to let people deal with their own issues. Often, though, people may be hoping someone will intervene, if even in a small way.

An active bystander can significantly change the outcome of a harmful situation. For example, had my mum and I simply walked away from the young woman waiting for her bus, she may have felt more anxious or experienced harassment. While we know that most incidents of sexual violence are perpetrated , many people often feel unsafe when they are isolated and in a dark place. Our active intervention made her feel more comfortable and helped her make her way home more at ease.

Being an active bystander has many components to it, and there are many ways we can incorporate it into our everyday lives. Here is my guide to being an Active Bystander at 大象传媒!

Be aware

I used to be someone who lived in her own bubble. Now, I鈥檓 mindful of harmful behaviours and comments. I pay attention to what people around me are saying and how they鈥檙e making others feel. It鈥檚 our responsibility to be aware of harmful comments or actions around us and it鈥檚 our duty to make sure everyone around us feels safer.

Use your voice

When I do recognize harmful behaviours or actions, I use my voice鈥擨 say something. This doesn鈥檛 always have to be in the form of a lecture or . Sometimes it鈥檚 making a joke to turn the attention back on the individual causing harm. Other times, it鈥檚 vocalizing how a word or phrase was triggering, damaging, or harmful, such as using points of one鈥檚 identity as insults.

Offer your presence

Sometimes, simply standing by, drawing attention to, or, consensually placing your hand on their shoulder can help someone affected by a harmful behaviour in a big way. I often use my body language to indicate that I am available for support by simply just being there.

Follow up

When someone I know has been impacted by a harmful situation, I always check up on them. Simply pulling them aside afterwards, sending them a text or calling them, or speaking to them later is adequate. I like to make sure that I show the impacted person that I care and that I鈥檓 available for support. Likewise, if you feel comfortable enough, you can also follow up with the person who caused harm to let them know their behaviour wasn鈥檛 cool.

Always assess your own safety

While being an active bystander is important, so is your personal safety - which looks different for everyone. I do not put myself in situations that will perpetuate more harm than good and neither should you! Remember, being an active bystander is not a superhero approach, and not only in terms of physical safety. Being an active bystander requires a lot of emotional labour, which is why it鈥檚 important to pick and choose your interventions wisely! #selfcare.

I also recognize that there are a multitude of reasons for why folks . I鈥檓 the kind of person who raises her hand to share her opinion in a lecture of two hundred people. I鈥檓 comfortable speaking to strangers, I鈥檓 good at public speaking, and I make friends everywhere I go. However, not everyone is comfortable using their voice and there are many barriers to why folks may not want to intervene as active bystanders. For starters, the individual(s) causing harm may be friends and one might fear losing relationships with them. Others may feel that they are less powerful than those causing harm and think that their voice will go unheard. These are all very normal, valid feelings and it鈥檚 important to recognize that some individuals will have more power and privilege to be active bystanders than others.

When a rabbit in a forest hears a loud noise, it runs the other way. It does so because it knows that something is not right. As humans, we also have this feeling inside of us (we鈥檙e basically bunnies!). We all get a gut feeling when we know something is not right and it鈥檚 important for us to act on that feeling. We all have the capacity to intervene and we all have the ability to be active agents of change. We can all be active bystanders.

About the author: Harpreet Mander is a fourth-year Sociology and Gender, Sexuality, and Women鈥檚 Studies joint major at 大象传媒. She is the Outreach Coordinator for the Active Bystander Network and has been involved with sexual violence education and prevention on campus for the past two years. She enjoys learning about South Asian studies, post colonialism, and critical race theory. Harpreet is an avid volunteer, feminist, and has an unhealthy obsession with all things Bollywood.

Retrived from on March 27th, 2020.