BYSTANDER ACTION TRAINING

Bystander intervention is an important part of preventing violence against women. Bystanders are individuals who observe an act of violence, discrimination, harassment, disrespect or other problematic behaviour. There are two types of bystanders – active and passive. While passive bystanders think ‘someone else should do something about this’, active bystanders take action to challenge the problematic behaviour effectively and respectfully.

Workplaces are important settings for influencing and challenging behaviours, attitudes and beliefs that allow gender inequality and violence against women to occur. By encouraging and empowering workers to be active bystanders, workplaces can support progress towards gender equality in Australia.

Gender Equality Solutions' Bystander Action Training empower participants with the knowledge, skills and confidence to be active bystanders. Participants are provided with strategies for responding to disrespect, discrimination, harassment and violence, to contribute to safe and respectful workplaces and communities.

Workshop Delivery

Duration: 3 Hours

Group Size: Maximum 35 Participants

Delivery Format: Face-to-Face

Workshops are three hours in duration and are delivered within your workplace or community setting. These workshops are designed to be delivered to all staff groups and can accommodate up to 35 participants to maximise participant experience.

Workshop Overview

Topics covered in Bystander Action Training include:

Understanding the issue of violence against women in Australia
Explore how violence against women is linked to gender inequality
Understanding the drivers of violence against women
Examine how media and cultural norms shape our attitudes and behaviours
Explore how and why it is the responsibility of individuals to play a role in preventing violence against women
What is bystander intervention?
Practical bystander intervention tools and strategies
Putting it into practice – scenarios, group discussion, action planning

By exploring the topics above, participants are encouraged to reflect on their own attitudes and behaviours in a safe and inclusive space. Facilitators provide an introduction to the issue of violence against women, supporting participants to explore how gender inequality impacts in social, cultural and workplace contexts, and enables participants to engage in discussion around how and why they should actively contribute to preventing violence against women from occurring.

Participants are then provided with a range of positive bystander intervention strategies, using real-life examples, videos, scenarios and action planning to explore how these might be practiced in workplaces, communities and social groups.

Workshops can be tailored to suit your workplace, industry or community group. Please speak to us about how we can support the achievement of your organisational goals for gender equality.

Outcomes

Participants complete a pre and post self-assessment survey within the workshop to evaluate impact, satisfaction and to provide feedback. This data is provided back to the organisation through a workshop summary report.

Bystander Action Workshops aim to achieve the following outcomes:

Increase participants’ understanding of Violence Against Women (VAW)
Increase participants’ understanding of the gendered drivers of VAW
Increase participants’ understanding of the link between Gender Inequality and VAW
Increase participants’ understanding of Positive Bystander Intervention
Increase participants’ inclination to utilise bystander strategies within the workplace, personal networks and broader community