Keeping quiet is guilty

A recent study aims to understand and provide insights into bystanders’ thoughts and experiences when they witness violence and how it makes them decide whether to intervene or not

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality,” once asserted Desmond Tutu.

A recent study on bystander behaviour aimed at understanding and providing insights on bystander’s thoughts and experiences when they witness violence in public and private spaces and how these inform their decisions about whether or not to intervene. It was conducted by Breakthrough India and happened in two phases from July-August and September-October 2020 with support from Uber India and IKEA Foundation.

As part of the collaboration, Breakthrough launched the #IgnoreNoMore campaign to encourage bystander interventions and support collective action to end gender-based violence in public spaces. The campaign underscored how bystanders can become agents of change rather than just mere spectators. The partnership facilitated an idea to create an in depth research to understand behaviour of active bystander and also deterrents. 

The study was conducted in states such as Jharkhand (Hazaribagh district), Bihar (Gaya district), Haryana (Jhajjar district), Delhi, Maharashtra (Mumbai), Telangana (Hyderabad) and Kolkata, covering over 721 respondents (digital survey) and 91 in depth interviews. Most participants, particularly women, identified violence as a broad term, consisting of physical, mental, verbal and sexual abuse. The study also highlighted how patriarchal practices were culturally embedded in society and its correlation between deteriorating mental health, everyday misogyny and patriarchy.

Commenting on the findings, Sohini Bhattacharya, President & CEO, Breakthrough said, “For us, promoting positive bystander action to address Violence Against Women (VAW) has been a consistent focus area. Our intent in undertaking such campaigns is to move the general public from identifying violence against women and girls as a personal issue. It requires community action.”

The report revealed that building safer public spaces for women requires work at several structural and systemic levels. An important aspect among them is bystander support. The lack of positive action from bystanders is not just because they do not care. The fear of being blamed for the violence, of getting stuck in police and legal processes are some challenges that stop people. Not knowing what to do in such situations is another hurdle that bystanders often face.

Here are the key finding:

• Around 54.6 per cent of respondents said that they have intervened in an incident of violence against women in a public space.
• Approximately 55.3 per cent respondents observed the discomfort of the woman/girl facing violence.
• Around 67.7 per cent respondents said that their intervention resulted in the violence stopping.

Why do people intervene?

The study found that the urge to do the ‘right’ thing often drives bystanders to intervene. A handful of respondents revealed that they were victims of child sexual abuse and domestic violence. But they could not resist their perpetrators at that time. It was this unresolved rage at their own helplessness that pushed them to intervene later in their lives. The respondents also said that better knowledge and awareness about gender issues also helped them intervene.

How can people intervene?

From an ‘active bystander perspective, intervention strategies and methods are influenced by multiple factors such as gender, age, socio-economic standing, and gender rights awareness. The survey respondents who have had intervened at some point in their lives shared interesting methods of interventions:

• Swapping seats with the survivors/victims: The importance of quietly dealing with a situation of gender violence is important, particularly from the perspective of the survivor.
• Giving one’s mobile number to connect later (particularly involving cases of intimate partner violence wherein the woman might need time to reflect on her next step).
• Taking the survivor for medical help.
• Physically escorting someone home when she is being harassed.
• Resorting to violence or employing patriarchal scripts like ‘don’t you have a mother and sister?’

Social norms at play

• Around 78.4 per cent respondents (female or others) said that they have experienced violence in public spaces (does not include public transport).
• Another 68 per cent people said that they have experienced violence while taking a public transport.
• Approximately 70 per cent of the respondents said that they would ideally like to help in scenarios of gender-based violence by intervening/speaking out.

The respondents who have had the experiences of bystander intervention expressed their exasperation at the ‘silence’ of most victims of abuse and sexual violence. A few of them acknowledged the critical role played by structural and social conditioning in influencing female behaviour and choices. They pointed out how girls were taught from childhood to be submissive and not challenge their surroundings, at least not overtly. The silence of the victims often discourages bystander intervention in public spaces.

Why do people hesitate to intervene?

• Approximately 45.4 per cent people said that they have not intervened in an incident of violence against women.
• Around 38.5 per cent said that they did not intervene because they did not know what to do.
• Almost 31 per cent of them said that they were worried about their own safety.
• Around 11.5 per cent of them feel that they would be dragged into police/legal matters.

Bystander intervention is a critical tool for preventing violence against women in public and private spaces. The government should create and promote initiatives to encourage individual action and behaviour to stop violence against women. Building accessible reporting systems, dissemination of reporting information, gender sensitisation for police personnel and ensuring safety of the survivor and the bystander will promote bystander intervention. In addition, we need to bring in systemic and policy level shifts for prevention of violence against women and girls and ensure swift action against the perpetrators.