The 5 D’s of Bystander Intervention
Learning what to do if you witness or become aware of sexual harassment in your workplace
Most people know this situation all too well. You feel in your gut that a situation is somewhat off, whether on the train, in a coffee shop, or at work. You feel like you should do something, but you don’t always know what that something is.
For example, say you’re an employee listening to colleagues make inappropriate sexual comments about their female colleagues after work drinks. By overhearing this conversation, you have become a bystander.
A bystander is someone who directly observes harassment, people to whom sexual harassment is reported, or people who target sexual harassment and seek support or advice from.
When you find yourself in this situation, you can take a stand. Bystander action is the action people take in response to watching sexual harassment or hearing about it after it has occurred. As an HR manager, your responsibility is to ensure that your employees feel safe in the workplace. You must encourage bystanders to report sexual harassment and start taking action against it for it never to happen again.
Maybe you’ve heard of the bystander effect before. The bystander effect, as defined by Darley and Latané in 1968, is the phenomenon in which the presence of people (i.e., bystanders) influences an individual’s likelihood of helping a person in an emergency situation.
This psychological study believed that as the number of people in an emergency increases, it is less likely that any single individual will help someone in need. For example, if you see someone getting into a fight, you assume someone else will call the police.
This is where bystander intervention training is the most effective. Bystander intervention training combats the bystander effect, and it has proven to be effective. 82% of bystanders who witnessed sexual harassment took some form of action, and bystanders are four times more likely to take action against harassment than targets themselves. These numbers are critical as almost half of workplace sexual harassment stops after a complaint is made or some action is taken.
There are 5 D’s of bystander intervention to help you determine the best method to support someone being sexually harassed: Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct. This method was initially developed by GreenDot and has been expanded by other organizations to protect communities from bias and harassment. The 5 D’s are as follows:
Distract: This method is a subtle but creative way to intervene. The idea is to ignore the harasser and directly engage with the target by derailing the incident without interrupting it. The goal is not to talk or refer to the harassment but to talk about something completely unrelated. An example of this is to get in between the harasser and the target but continuing what you were doing or making a small commotion to get the attention away from the target.
Delegate: When using this method, you, as a bystander, ask for assistance from a third party. For example, if you notice harassment occurring at work but do not feel you are in a place to intervene, you can seek out HR or security as they may be in a better position to help. You can also ask for a friend or colleague to use the method of distraction while you find someone who can help.
Document: A helpful way to assist a target is to make a record of the sexual harassment incident. This can support the target if they want to take further action against their harasser. At Metta Space, we believe it is essential not to take away the agency of the sexual harassment target. With our app, bystanders can write a record of the sexual harassment incident, with the date, location, event, perpetrator, target, and other witnesses noted down.
Delay: Even if you cannot help at the moment, you can still support the target who was sexually harassed by checking in on them after the incident. Often, sexual harassment can be brief or in passing, making it hard consistently to intervene. But even sitting with the target after the incident can help validate the negative occurrence. For example, to use the tactic of delay, you can ask them if they are okay and tell them you are sorry for what happened to them. You can ask them to see if there is any way you can support them. And if you used the Document method, you can ask them if they want you to share your records.
Direct: Sometimes, the best method for a bystander can be the Direct method, wherein you directly respond to harassment by naming what is happening or confronting the harasser. As this is a riskier method than the others, ensure your safety before getting involved. Some examples of this can be the bystander demanding that the harasser stop their behavior against the target or interrupt the incident and alert the target of sexual harassment of your support. It can also work for hand and hand with the Document method; the bystander can report sexual harassment on behalf of the target.
Everyone plays a role in eradicating sexual harassment and creating a safe working culture. As a Human Resources manager, you play a crucial role in fostering a safe and inclusive workplace culture. Creating a work environment free of sexual harassment and discrimination requires the collective effort of everyone in the organization. As a bystander, it is essential to understand how one can get involved and support targets of harassment. From speaking up and lending a supportive ear to reporting incidents to the appropriate authorities, several methods exist to help create a safe working environment.
These methods work not only for sexual harassment but also for instances of bias or discrimination you may encounter daily. By taking a stand against harassment and discrimination, we can work towards creating a more equitable and respectful workplace for all employees.
Written By: Apollonia “Polly” Kyle, Research Ambassador at Metta Space
Edited By: Paula Koller-Alonso, Head of R&D at Metta Space, and Clémence Bouchard, Marketing Intern at Metta Space
