Be an Upstander
What does it mean to 'Be An Upstander'?
Did you know that you are less likely to help someone in need when there are other people around you? When witnessing hateful behaviour or hate crime, it’s often easier to stand back or shrug it off as ‘not your problem’. This is known as the 'bystander effect':
However, we are all part of the college community and we all have a role to play in keeping everyone safe and our campus free-from hate. The college is encouraging both students and staff to ‘Be an Upstander, not a Bystander’, by taking action to stop or de-escalate hate crime. Your actions matter.
Hate crime takes different forms, but might look like calling people offensive names or shouting horrible things, harassment or assault and vandalism or taking someone’s belongings. Even things that are passed off as ‘banter’ could be a hate crime in disguise, especially if it’s based around a protected characteristic like race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity. Read more about these here.
But what can I actually do about it?
So, what can you do when witnessing a hate crime take place? Rather than think ‘shall I do something or not?’ we encourage you to ask yourself, ‘what can I do that is safe and comfortable for me?’. There are two approaches to being an Upstander, and it’ll depend how safe you are and how confident you feel as to which actions to take:
1) Indirect approach
Observing details like location, time and a description of the offender
Reporting to staff or police sends a message that hate crime is not accepted
Supporting the victim by offering a smile or escorting them to a safe place
2) direct approach
Distracting the offender, by asking questions like ‘do you know what the time is?’ or interrupting by dropping something
Disapproving verbally, by talking to others at the scene
Directly challenging the offender, by telling them their behaviour is unacceptable
What about online hate?
This doesn’t just apply to in-person interactions either, but also to online spaces where it’s common for users to think that no-one will find out who they are or hold them accountable.
Watch this Stop Hate UK video to see the impact of online messages, and how the support and ‘likes’ that they gather, cause real harm to the people at the receiving end. All these examples are real.
how to report hate on social media
Learn how to report hate on different social media platforms by clicking through these guides.
anti-bullying week 2022 campaign:
A big thank you to all staff and students who made a pledge to become an Upstander for Anti-Bullying Week (14th-18th November 2022). Below are some of the responses we received.
Where to report and seek support:
Speaking up can be difficult, but reporting makes a difference. You can tell the police directly or you can discuss your options with the services below.
You don’t need to know if what you experienced was a crime to get in touch with the police or other services. Even if the incident you faced was not a crime, the police can record it as a non-criminal hate incident. That can help them map problems and potentially prevent the situation getting worse.
