The “bystander” approach was developed by Dr. Jackson Katz and his colleagues at the University of North Eastern. It is a pedagogical model that refutes the common rape and battering myths. It works by giving people the tools to interrupt the process of sexist behavior and to speak up and create a climate where abusive behavior will be seen as unacceptable. A bystander by definition is anyone who is not a perpetrator or a victim in a given situation – they are not involved in the diade of abuse. It argues that instead of viewing gender violence as purely a victim and abuser dynamic, people around them should be roped in and taught to intervene before, during or after an abuse case.
The term gender violence to most people connotes violence towards women usually by men ignoring the fact that abuse is experienced by both genders from either men or women. In that line of thought, it dissociates the problem into that of a victim and their abuser removing the larger society from the problem. This creates the aspect of a problem for others to solve. However, the bystander approach seeks to highlight it as a problem everyone is a part of and therefore should participate in solving.
I witnessed this approach in action at a house party. The host had his eye on a girl who declined his every move. He resorted to plying her with alcohol hoping to impair her judgment. However, one of his friends figured out what he was trying and intervened. He interrupted before the host could rape the drunk girl. He took it as his responsibility as a bystander to intervene instead of assuming that one of the girl’s friends would interrupt.
Gender violence should be taken as a societal problem and everyone should take it upon themselves to quash abusive, sexist and racist behavior in their circles. As Dr. Jackson Katz once stated,” Gender violence is not a women’s problem, but also men’s problem.”
WORKS CITED
“The Bystander Approach”. MVP Strategies Mentors in Violence Prevention, www.mvpstrat.com/the-bystander-approach/. Accessed on 29 March 2018.
Katz, Jackson. “Violence against women-it’s a men’s issue”. TED Ideas worth spreading, uploaded by TED editors, November 2012, www.ted.com/talks/jackson_katz_violence_against_women_it_s_a_men_s_issue.
