{"id":38472,"date":"2025-06-26T15:54:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T07:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/personal-support\/respectful-relationships\/the-role-of-the-bystander\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T09:54:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T01:54:26","slug":"the-role-of-the-bystander","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/personal-support\/respectful-relationships\/the-role-of-the-bystander\/","title":{"rendered":"The role of the bystander"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/08\/sanctions-image.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-34298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/08\/sanctions-image.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/08\/sanctions-image-740x370.jpg 740w, https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/08\/sanctions-image-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/08\/sanctions-image-480x240.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A bystander is a witness to harassment, assault or abuse, and they have a powerful role to play. It is common for bystanders to rely on someone else to react, rather than jumping in first to assist, this is known as the <em>Bystander effect<\/em> or <em>Bystander apathy<\/em>. This effect can be particularly strong in larger group settings or online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Possible reasons for the Bystander effect:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The bystander believes someone else will act<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The bystander feels it is too risky to intervene<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The bystander isn\u2019t sure what to do<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can help to avoid the <em>Bystander effect<\/em> by taking steps to be an <em>Active bystander<\/em>. An <em>Active bystander <\/em>is someone who sees unacceptable behaviour and steps in to help. Being an <em>Active bystander<\/em> challenges the culture of harassment and can reduce the trauma experienced by those involved. There are many ways to help, consider which approach is most appropriate and safe for you by reading the 5Ds below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The <strong>5Ds<\/strong> give you options for being an Active bystander:<\/h2>\n\n\n<section\n                class=\"block numbered-list \"\n        data-segment=\"all\">\n\n    <ol class=\"numbered-list__items\">\n                    <li class=\"numbered-list__item\">\n                                    <h3>Distract<\/h3>\n                                                    <div class=\"numbered-list__content content last-mb0\">\n                        <p>Engage directly with the person who is being harassed and talk to them about something completely unrelated to the harassment. Ignore the harasser.<\/p>\n\n                    <\/div>\n                            <\/li>\n                    <li class=\"numbered-list__item\">\n                                    <h3>Delegate<\/h3>\n                                                    <div class=\"numbered-list__content content last-mb0\">\n                        <p>Ask someone nearby, who could have authority in the space, to help you intervene. Tell them clearly what you\u2019d like them to do.<\/p>\n\n                    <\/div>\n                            <\/li>\n                    <li class=\"numbered-list__item\">\n                                    <h3>Document<\/h3>\n                                                    <div class=\"numbered-list__content content last-mb0\">\n                        <p>Record or take notes, but only if someone is already helping the person being harassed. Always ask the person what they want to do with your documentation.<\/p>\n\n                    <\/div>\n                            <\/li>\n                    <li class=\"numbered-list__item\">\n                                    <h3>Delay<\/h3>\n                                                    <div class=\"numbered-list__content content last-mb0\">\n                        <p>Even after harassment, you can help someone by checking in on them, asking if they\u2019re okay, or if there\u2019s anything you can do to support them.<\/p>\n\n                    <\/div>\n                            <\/li>\n                    <li class=\"numbered-list__item\">\n                                    <h3>Direct<\/h3>\n                                                    <div class=\"numbered-list__content content last-mb0\">\n                        <p>After assessing your safety and ensuring you are not going to escalate the incident, respond directly by naming the inappropriate behavior and confronting the person doing harm.<\/p>\n\n                    <\/div>\n                            <\/li>\n            <\/ol>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no wrong or right choice of which of the 5Ds to use, it may need to be different every time. The type of Bystander action you take might depend on the environment, the people involved, and your own sense of safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you would like to know more about how you can intervene as a bystander, you can find more information on the <a href=\"https:\/\/righttobe.org\/guides\/bystander-intervention-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Right to Be website.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A bystander is a witness to harassment, assault or abuse, and they have a powerful [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":336,"featured_media":0,"parent":589,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38472","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-30 07:01:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_tag","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38472"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42376,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38472\/revisions\/42376"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}