For this year’s International Bystander Awareness Day on 13th March we are releasing a new guide “Bystander intervention against gendered harassment and gender-based violence in public transport: a guide for bystander trainers and campaigners”.
The guide is produced by THINK researcher Dr Lucy Baker and is an outcome of the project Gender+ Bus, which is tackling violence against women and sexual harassment behaviours that are experienced while passengers access, wait and use buses. The project supports safe and inclusive journeys. The guide is developed from research on the lived experiences of women and on industry interventions used to ensure passenger safety.
Bystander training for intervention in public tends to be generalised for use in various contexts and for intervening in a wide variety of incidents. This may be because it is delivered in short courses with limited resources, and because covering too much content can prevent information being absorbed. So there is good reason why courses may use generalised content.
However, the research undertaken in the Gender+ Bus project finds that there are distinct behaviours that constitute sexual harassment that occur on public transport and the spaces in which people wait, as well as journeys to and from transport. The behaviours are most commonly undertaken by men and target women. Incidents can be concealed by movements of public transport and by crowding. Bystanders on public transport can be unsure if what they are witnessing constitutes harassment or violence, or is a situation that requires their intervention. Passengers worry if they intervene they may need to stay with a victim or get off the transport, which would disrupt their journey. This concern is exacerbated by infrequent services, long waits and lack of information available to help people find their way in unfamiliar places.
They may worry about making a scene in front of people in a space in which they cannot readily remove themselves. Meanwhile staff are not always trained to support victims or bystanders in incidents of harassment, or gender-based violence. Transport companies have a duty to keep both passengers and staff safe, but the two responsibilities do not always align, and sometimes decisions are made by transport staff that leave victims and bystanders feeling unsupported and unsafe. Passengers report feeling powerless when having been harassed or assaulted because people were around, but did not intervene. This means that the incident has a greater negative impact on the victim, and usually undermines their already limited trust in reporting it to the police.
Our research and guide encourages the use of lived experiences shared in the form of anonymous case studies. These can be context specific because different situations sometimes require different intervention techniques. The guide covers the different behaviours that passengers can look out for and encourages people to be present. A key thing about public transport spaces, especially in today’s online culture, is that a lot of the time, people want to zone out and use their phone. We encourage risk assessment by bystanders that is relevant to transport situations. We outline a number of techniques promoted by public transport stakeholders and the British Transport Police. We also describe how signposting to reporting is different depending on the incident, but also depending on the different transport spaces where it occurred (rail/bus). The guide covers how to respond to an ‘Ask for Annie’ request too because this can also be used in public transport spaces, and directed to either passengers or staff.
The guide is designed with bystander trainers in mind to support their learning and course content. It is also useful for anyone preparing a bystander intervention campaign. It could be useful for transport staff to raise their awareness and to consider their intervention and support techniques. The guide is comprehensive, but can be used by anyone wanting to know more.
The guide is open-access and can be downloaded by using this link: Bystander intervention on public transport – a trainer’s guide (aber.ac.uk)