1. TALK ABOUT: Bystander Intervention

2. Things to Talk About
What are the warning signs that a sexual assault is about to occur and bystander intervention is needed?
What are effective strategies for preventing sexual assault as a bystander?

3. How to Recognize
Sexual Assault

4. Part 1: What is Consent? Consent is: Voluntary (freely given)
Only Active (not passive)
Informed
Clear
Engaged Permission
Go through each element of consent and explain what it means. Then, talk about how a bystander might recognize warning signs that consent has not been given.
Voluntary: Consent must be voluntary; it cannot be obtained by coercion or force. Even if you did not physically resist an attacker, that doesn't mean you gave consent. Some survivors don't resist for fear physical resistance might make their attackers more violent. Research also indicates that some rape victims may experience "tonic immobility" during the rape. In other words, they are literally paralyzed by fear.
Only Active: Consent must be active. If you were unconscious, asleep, or incapacitated by drugs or alcohol, then you couldn't consent. Indeed, even if you don't remember being sexually assaulted, it doesn't mean it didn't happen.
Informed: If you consented to one intimate act, it does not imply that you have consented to others. Consent must be informed, which means you and your partner know what you are consenting to beforehand. Always ask before increasing the level of intimacy.
Clear Words or Actions: If you didn't say no, it doesn't mean you consented. Remember, consent must be active and involve clear words or actions. Always get clear affirmation. Never assume consent.
Engaged Permission: Just because you have consented to something in the past, doesn't imply that you consent to it in the future. Similarly, being in a relationship with someone doesn't mean you or your partner have consented to sexual activity. Always ask for permission to engage in mutually agreed upon sexual activity.
Additional Sources: RAINN Website, "Was I Raped?" and "Acquaintance Rape."

5. Part 2: Acquaintance Rape
90% of college women who were victims of attempted or completed rape knew their attacker.
Acquaintance rape is not an accident.
Perpetrator’s often choose the target carefully and plan the assault, involving three different stages:
Intrusion: accidental touches and stares
Desensitization: the target dismisses their unease
Isolation: separates the target from others
Explain that the idea that sexual assault is only committed by strangers jumping out of the bushes is a myth. Acquaintance rape is far more common than attacks by strangers. Discuss how this makes bystander intervention a potentially very effective tool for preventing assaults. Where might acquaintance rapes occur? Who might be involved with stranger rapes?
Explain the three stages of acquaintance sexual assault.
Intrusion begins when the actor violates the target's personal space and comfort level by revealing personal information, or through "accidental" touches and stares that slowly escalate. In a healthy interaction, these touches are desired and reciprocated.
Desensitization occurs when the target feels comfortable with the offender, considers the intrusive actions less threatening, and dismisses feelings of uneasiness.
Isolation separates the target from others, especially friends, and creates an opportunity for assault. During a normal courtship it's possible for one person to invite the other to spend time alone without any intention of committing assault, but this behavior becomes problematic if it is overly insistent or unwelcome.
Discuss how students could distinguish between the warning signs of acquaintance rape and the symptoms of innocent flirtation.

6. Attitudes that Enable Sexual Assault
Victim blaming
Places partial or complete blame for the assault in the victim
Rape myths
The idea that “real rape” is only committed by a stranger who ambushes a woman unexpectedly
Studies have shown most men disagree with such attitudes, but are afraid to speak out
Silence encourages harmful behavior
Consider some common refrains of victim blaming—that the victim had been drinking, was asking for it by being flirtatious or wearing revealing clothing, or is probably lying about the assault.
Although most men do not support these beliefs and attitudes, they are often afraid to speak up when confronted with offensive language or behavior because they mistakenly believe that other men won't support them. In their desire to conform, they stay silent.
Disturbingly, studies show that when men perceive rape-myths to be widely accepted, they report a greater "willingness to engage in sexually aggressive behavior" (Bohner et al. 293). Thus silence encourages harmful behavior.

7. Strategies for Intervention

8. General Strategy
The best model for preventing sexual assault as a bystander is to:
Notice the event
Identify it as an emergency
Take responsibility
Decide how to help
Act to intervene
The next slide provides specific details

9. Specific Steps Step in and ask if the person needs help Don’t leave
Have a buddy system, and let your friends know if you’re worried about them
Ask directly, “Do you need a ride?”
Find their friends or call 911
Distract the perpetrator so there’s time to intervene
You can expand on each of these points by explaining the reasoning behind each one, if it’s not self-evident.
For instance, tell them that they shouldn’t leave because if bystanders remain at the scene and are potential witnesses, perpetrators are less likely to do anything.
Remind them to call 911 if intervening would put themselves in danger.
If you want, you can use the 3 D’s as a way to remember the final three: Direct, Delegate, and Distract.

10. Bystander Effect
The more people who are there to witness a situation where someone needs help, the less likely it is that someone will actually intervene.
A person’s feeling of responsibility is not as strong when that responsibility is shared by others.
A good example of this phenomenon that you might consider using is the now-infamous Steubenville, Ohio rape case.
A 16-year-old teenage girl went to a summer party in a small town where there were about 50 teenagers, no adults, and plenty of alcohol. Before the party, this girl had been flirting by text and tweet with a football player named "Trent." She had a bottle of vodka that she used to spike a slushy on the way to the party and over the course of the night she became extremely intoxicated. When that party broke up she got in the car with a group of boys, including Trent, and went to another party where she became sick. She doesn't remember anything after that until she woke up the next morning naked. The electronic trail of what happened after proved two football players guilty of rape: one photo on Instagram showed the two boys carrying the unconscious girl by the wrists and ankles. Someone tweeted, "If they're getting 'raped' and don't resist then to me it's not rape. I feel bad for her but still."
None of the teenagers at the party reported what happened. But the girl's parents eventually got a hold of the cell-phone video of Trent who is obviously drunk, laughing uncontrollably as he says, "You don't need foreplay with a dead girl … She is so raped right now." His audience laughs along with him for more than twelve minutes. The girl's parents reported the incident to police.
Ma'lik Richmond and Trent Mays were tried as juveniles. Richmond was convicted of rape and sentenced to one year in juvenile detention. Mays was convicted of rape and disseminating child pornography, and sentenced to two years in juvenile detention and ordered to register as a sex offender for twenty years.
Ask your students how being aware of the bystander effect might change their reaction to a situation like the one in Steubenville.

11. Things to Think About
What are reasons someone might NOT intervene in a situation?
What can we do on campus to overcome these barriers to intervention and create a more supportive campus climate?
These questions pose larger topics for students to consider related to the main presentation. Hopefully, they will encourage students to reflect on what they have just learned and in doing so consolidate the important learning points.
The questions can be used as a segue into post-lecture activities. Students can brainstorm these questions in small groups, and then you can discuss them as a class. Or you can use these as topics for a free write.

12. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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