The recent sentencing of Brock Turner, the former Stanford University student convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus, has stirred many emotions across the nation. From Turner’s father defending his son, to a childhood friend providing a pre-sentencing letter written to the judge, to, finally, the victim’s statement, this has been an emotional case.
Rightfully so. As Business Insider stated, “There’s no shortage of travesties in the Brock Turner rape case…. Nearly everything about this case exposes the very worst of rape culture. But there’s one glimmer of hope: it proves that bystander intervention actually works.”
As we explored in a blog post back in October, the New York State Department of Health explains that sexual assault bystander intervention training includes everyone on campus in your sexual assault prevention strategy—making it different from previous efforts because:
Everyone is responsible for prevention. No matter who you are, you can take action to stop sexual violence. And if something does happen, it affects the community as a whole.
The community is a part of the solution. When people are treated as allies in the fight, they are more open to intervening if they witness something happening. No one person is singled out as a potential perpetrator or victim.
The campus culture shifts. Getting everyone involved in the solution and encouraging them to be accountable, has a massive impact on campus culture.
According to Vector Solutions (formerly Everfi's Campus Prevention Network) data(2015), nearly all students report they would take action in a situation of sexual assault but only two thirds believe their peers would do the same. Bystander intervention training is one of the most effective ways to empower students, staff, and faculty to address and prevent harassment on campus and strategically leverages students as change agents, going beyond "see something, say something" to make campuses safer.
Fortunately, it was two bystanders on bicycles who witnessed the assault in the Brocker Turner case. Not only did they immediately recognize this was an attack, but they confronted Turner, chased him down and waited for the police to arrive.
But why don’t more people intervene when they witness an assault? The statistic referenced above is an alarming one. Many times they think someone else will do something, but that’s very rarely the case.
Without these bystanders, the situation would have ended very differently. However, physically intervening isn’t the only way. If it’s not safe, bystanders can take many other actions:
