Be an Ally
Bystanders play a critical role in preventing sex discrimination and sex-based harassment, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, and relationship violence (dating violence and domestic violence). If you witness acts of inappropriate conduct or power-based personal violence, or situations that could lead up to such incidents, you have the opportunity to intervention and make a difference.
Barriers to Intervening
Bystanders may hesitate to intervene due to several personal, relational, and general factors:
- Personal Concerns: Fear of retaliation, feeling awkward, uncertainty about what to do, embarrassment, lack of confidence, or anxiety about intervening.
- Relational Barriers: Worry about upsetting friends, fear of being labeled a snitch, peer pressure, concerns about losing social standing, or loyalty conflicts.
- General Obstacles: Diffusion of responsibility, normalization of the situation (bystander effect), ambiguity about the necessity of intervention, cultural norms that discourage action, time constraints, or reliance on authority figures to manage the situation.
Bystander Intervention at OCC
Orange Coast College encourages everyone to actively prevent and address power-based personal violence, which is sex discrimination and sex-based harassment, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, and relationship violence (dating violence and domestic violence). There are immediate actions taken in response to potential incidents of power-based personal violence:
DIRECT: Confront the situation directly
- Address the situation or individual directly.
- This approach works well when there's an established trust or relationship.
- Examples: Ask if the impacted person is okay or need help, or tell someone exhibiting harmful behavior to stop.
DISTRACT: Create a distraction that interrupts the situation
- Interrupt the situation with a creative distraction.
- Find a way to draw attention away from the person being harassed.
- Defuse potential violence without direct confrontation.
- Examples: Ask them for directions, the time, drop something, or consider asking the person doing the harassing unrelated questions, if you feel safe doing so.
DELEGATE: Involve others and get help
- If unsure about intervening alone, involve others who can help.
- If online, consider reporting that harassment to the platform where it happened.
- Examples: Ask a friend or find someone in a position of authority and ask them for help.
Green Dot Bystander Training
The Green Dot Bystander Training is for students who are interested in learning about bystander intervention and how to end power-based personal violence on our campus. Meet with other students, develop tangible skills, and learn how to make a difference at OCC and in your community.
Contact the Title IX Coordinator if you are interested in attending the next Green Dot Bystander Training.