Q: Why this site? Aren't there already plenty of Bystander Intervention sites and programs out there?
A: In mid-2017, we set out to answer what we thought would be a simple question: "where can an ordinary person in the US get live training in Bystander Intervention?" We found that while there are a variety of programs, many of them run by college campuses strictly for their students, we were unable to find any central, maintained database that provided a list of public Bystander Intervention training programs, and many of the partial lists that did exist were stale. This web site is an effort to address that problem. In running the Bystander Intervention Resources site, we're trying to meet certain goals that will make the site useful:
Q: Why bystander intervention?
A: Nationally, hate crimes are on the rise, with FBI statistics indicating a 67% rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes from 2014 to 2015, and major cities seeing an additional 20% spike in 2016. Multiple widely-publicized hate crime incidents have taken place in 2016 and 2017, often in broad daylight in the presence of many onlookers. The increased need to provide basic protection from harassment has led to an increased call to train communities in the best practices for safe intervention as an ally.
Q: Is Bystander Intervention training a self-defense class?
A: No, not in the traditional definition of "self-defense", which emphasizes the ability to physically fight off an attacker. Bystander Intervention is a family of principles and tactics that stresses nonviolent de-escalation of an immediate conflict before it turns physical. Many Bystander Intervention tactics advise ignoring the attacker entirely!
Q: How long does Bystander Intervention take to learn?
A: A typical introductory class for people completely unfamiliar with Bystander Intervention might be 2 hours, while a training-for-trainers might be a half day. Some organizations offer multi-day trainings, however a multi-day training would be fairly extensive and would generally cover a broader range of nonviolence theory.
Q: How does Bystander Intervention fit within the larger framework of nonviolence theory and tactics?
A: Strategic nonviolence theorist and historian Gene Sharp has cataloged a set of 198 different methods of nonviolent action, originally published in 1973 in volume 2 of his three-volume series The Politics of Nonviolent Action. Within Sharp's taxonomy, we might consider Bystander Intervention as a form of tactic #174, "establishing new social patterns". From Sharp:
"...another method of social intervention consists of new ways of behavior which may positively contribute to the establishment of new social patterns. These may be unplanned actions by individuals or a series of individuals or groups... A wide variety of social patterns may be involved. It is, however, easily illustrated with behavior which replaces social patterns of inequality, hatred, or avoidance with new relationships of equality and respect." (vol. 2, pp. 390-1)
Q: Is there just one type of Bystander Intervention training?
A: Different types of Bystander Intervention can emphasize different preferred approaches, depending on the trainer who created the material and the preferences of the organization offering the training. For example, training based on the Montgomery County Civil Right Coalition emphasizes ignoring the attacker and concentrating entirely on acting as an ally to the target. Other trainings, such as content from Hollaback, suggest a larger family of tactics based on choosing one or more of "the 5 D's": Distract, Delegate, Delay, Document, Direct. All well-constructed Bystander Intervention training emphasizes de-escalation of conflict and creating safety for the target.
Q: Who maintains this web site?
A: This site is built and maintained by Bruce Hahne, an armchair nonviolence theorist and inconsistently-active activist based in Sunnyvale, California. Bruce served as a nonviolence trainer in the early years of Soulforce, and has served on the boards of directors of national LGBTQ equality organization More Light Presbyterians, and peace church First Presbyterian Church, Palo Alto. He can be reached at hahne21@gmail.com
Q: My organization offers Bystander Intervention training. How can I get added to your list?
A: We have a short web form for that - just fill it out and we'll get back to you to verify.
Q: Where can I get in-person Bystander Intervention training?
A: See the list of organizations that offer training on the main page of this web site.