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Bystander Intervention is a philosophy and strategy for prevention of various types of violence, including bullying, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence.

 

Bystander Intervention is based on the fact that people make decisions and continue behaviors based on the reactions they get from others. For instance, commonly-asked questions in adult bystander intervention trainings are: Why don't we pick our noses in public? or Why don't we eat hot dogs for breakfast? The answer, once analyzed by the participants, tends to examine the expectations social interactions place on us, and the cultural conditioning and norms taught to us through subtle reactions from others. A question for secondary students might be: If you wore an outfit to school one day and no one said anything, but everyone made a horrified face at you, would you wear it again?

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