Decoding Bystander Behaviour: From Looking Away to Intervening Smart

Abstract for a Comm Talk from the 2022 International SBCC Summit in Morocco: 

"Through the Dakhal Do campaign we aim to encourage bystanders to intervene, to speak up. And if one isn't sure of taking action, one can at least let people around know to take action. Our approach has been pretty simple - that violence against women is everyone's problem and that there is nothing in it that needs glorification, especially the act of intervention. With Dakhal Do we want to reinforce the idea that intervening isn't interfering. It means supporting the survivor, standing with someone who is being harassed. But How? We are telling bystanders to take the smart route to intervention. That it doesn't come with a packaged plan. We are asking them to be alert, to use use simple ways to tackle violence against women because some forms of violence are really subtle and indirect. Because not every time, one can go up to the perpetrator to confront. Imagine having to deal with something like this in a violent situation.The idea of intervening with smarter moves as simple as exchanging phone numbers with the survivor can go a long way. And there are indirect ways where you let the harassers know that they are being watched and their action isn't acceptable."