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Bystander Intervention Digital Badge

Know Your Power & Stand up to Sexual Abuse and Harassment

Know Your Power & Stand up to Sexual Abuse and Harassment

UCC’s Bystander Intervention Digital Badge provides training to all students and staff on how to be an active bystander and intervene safely in situations of sexual harassment, assault and sexual violence.

The Bystander Intervention Programme in UCC is all about enabling you to develop your skills and confidence to intervene in any setting. You’ll get the chance to ask questions, discuss definitions and scenarios and practice action steps and role-plays. You’ll also get resources to equip you with the skills to safely intervene in instances of harmful or violent words, actions or behaviours.

Structured Learning Outcomes

  • Module 1: Introducing the Bystander
  • Module 2: Understanding Rape and Sexual Assault
  • Module 3: Understanding Relationship Violence
  • Module 4: Intervention Skill
  • Module 5: Classroom based Practical Skills Workshop

You will learn about some of the theories behind the training, such as:

The 4 Stages of Intervention, which involve:

  1. Noticing an event or behaviour
  2. Interpreting it as a problem
  3. Feeling responsible for dealing with it
  4. Possessing the necessary skills to act

The Barriers to Intervention

Ever felt guilty about a time when you didn’t intervene in a situation, or wondered why you didn’t step in and act? The Bystander Intervention Programme answers some of these questions. You’ll learn what the five most common reasons are for not intervening such as:

  1. Social influence: you don’t relate to the situation or the people involved, so you choose not to get involved.
  2. Audience inhibition: you’re afraid of embarrassing yourself in front of others.
  3. Diffusion of responsibility: you think someone else will step-in, so you leave it to them to do so.
  4. Fear of retaliation: you are unsure of how those around you or people involved might react. This could be in the form of physical violence, verbal abuse or digital trolling.
  5. Pluralistic ignorance: this is when inappropriate behaviour is so normalised in everyday life that it becomes so expected & blended into the background, it’s ignored – by all of us. This shared ignorance leads to a false consensus, meaning people don’t challenge the bad behaviour as they assume they are alone in thinking it is wrong. However, what people don’t realise is that others also see it as wrong but are also too afraid to call it out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everyone has a role to play in preventing relationship and sexual violence. Unfortunately, it’s possible you will encounter incidents of abuse, and when you do you can choose to be an active bystander and make an intervention, or alternatively walk past. With the right skills, you can be the difference by helping others, stepping in and speaking up.

It can be as simple as listening, referring someone to a service, distracting either party or using our body language such as a glance or raised eyebrow. Whether in the scenarios, role-plays, questions, action steps and resources, you’ll find all these skills and many more interwoven throughout the Bystander Intervention Programme’s introductory video, 4 modules and interactive workshop.

Simply complete the Bystander Intervention Programme which is a short on-line course available to anyone who wants to upskill. To get started, view the introductory video and check out the Bystander Intervention website. You’ll then be ready to move to the next stage – registering for the Bystander Intervention Digital Badge programme.

The programme is designed so you can complete it in your own time and at your own pace, doing as much or as little, depending on your workload. If you’re keen to get your award before the end of a semester, we suggest setting an hour aside each week well in advance of study week and exams, to complete the 4 self-directed workshops. Then it’s the home-stretch, workshop 5, an interactive workshop & a short reflection piece.

 In a nutshell, you’ll learn about consent and the boundaries surrounding sexual assault, rape and abusive relationships, about how to recognise the links between sexist attitudes, and gender-based violence and where and how to seek help. Additionally, you will learn when to intervene, which can be at any time, either before, during or after an event. Crucially you will learn the Golden Rule: only intervene when it is safe for you to do so. If it is not safe, or in an emergency, call 112, or 999.

That’s great you already practice consent in your everyday life. However, the Bystander modules will help you learn how to intervene in situations where someone else (a friend or stranger) is at risk of experiencing sexual abuse or is actually being subjected to it. What’s more, the skills you’ll develop here are applicable to all sorts of challenging situations, from managing a situation when ‘banter’ goes that bit too far, to knowing what to do if you see any form of abuse or inappropriate behaviour.

  • Watch our video – ‘Bystander Intervention: A Quick Guide’: https://ucc.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=eea2c3ba-7d82-4669-ba5a-ad8200c0d203
  • Register in the course via https://bystanderintervention.ucc.ie/
  • Complete 4 on-line modules on Canvas: Each takes 40 mins
  • Attend workshop 5: This interactive workshop takes 45 minutes. Simply sign-up & turn up. Pending Covid restrictions, we’re hoping to deliver in-person as well as on-line workshops.
  • Submit a reflection piece: This is about your views on being an active bystander and experience of the programme. Be as creative as you like – e.g. painting, poetry, creative writing or essay (1,000 words).
  • Pick up an Award: On completing the above, you will be awarded your Bystander Intervention Digital Badge

Skills Centre

Q -1 (Q minus 1), Boole Library,

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