A man stares inappropriately at a woman. She clearly shows her disapproval but the man remains undeterred. A co-passenger notices her discomfort and intervenes by standing between them. The man is left with no choice but to leave.
A couple in a park sees a man disappearing with a baby. They gather a group of people who confronts the man. Upon being caught, the man flees.
These true stories that occurred in Bengaluru and Kolkata, respectively, were both as a result of the Bystander Intervention (BI) by Bengaluru-based, award-winning production house Curley Street. BI has also been appreciated by celebrities such as Kalki Koechlin, Nandita Das, Shruti Hassan, Rahul Khanna, Nikhil Chinapa, Monica Dogra, Pankaj Advani, Durjoy Dutta, among others.
BI was first started in the United States. The team at Curley Street, in keeping with their ethos of creating social justice narratives, has taken BI further with the campaign hashtag #Howwillwerespond. Far from naming and shaming, BI is a peaceful method to resolve conflict. It prevents violence by engaging the community to come up with responses to situations such as sexual harassment, racists comments, enabling a loved one to acknowledge signs of depression and distress, etc. BI is on the same lines as earlier domestic violence campaigns like Bell Bajao by Breakthrough.
Pavitra Chalam, founder-director of Curley Street says: “In February an organisation in Bangalore asked us to make a video on BI. They later said it wasn’t needed, but we were hooked to the concept. We noticed very little information was available on BI within the Indian context.” This led them to researching BI, and creating a series of appealing and thought-provoking videos, interviews with experts, and mixed media to start a conversation around BI.
If you are the kind of person who wants to make their city safer, then you too could be part of the BI #Howwillwerespond till the end of this month.
Outlining what BI is not, Akshay, CEO, director, says: “BI is not about putting yourself in harm’s way by directly confronting the aggressor. It is about using indirect and safer ways to intervene.” But what if there are situations that are volatile and one would like to take action? “In the BI curriculum there are three Ds: direct, distract and delegate,” explains Akshay.
“Direct is to take direct action, which we recommend the least. In delegate, you gather other people to take action together. In distract if you observe a fight escalate between two people, then you can approach them and change the topic. This helps in stopping or diffusing the situation.”
There are two other Ds: delay and document. “With delay if you can’t do anything for the victim, then you can go up to her and ask if she is all right and would need something. With document, you can take a video, which you can upload on social media and websites,” says Akshay.
Curley Street has also been supported by clinical psychologist Dr. Divya Kannan who gives tips on BI, influencers like How Revealing, and an extended network like Hollaback, a global movement to end harassment and focuses on BI intervention. Even though the campaign is on only till the end of the month, you can continue to be a part of BI by posting on www.howrevealing.com, a safe space to share experiences on sexual harassment and gender-based violence.
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