Morna  Ikosa

The Violence Against Children and Youth in Namibia Report of 2019 states that nearly two out of five females (39.6%) and males (45%), aged 18-24 years, have experienced physical, sexual and emotional violence in childhood. 

Moreover, females and males experienced high rates of sexual violence: 11.8% of females and 7.3% of males, aged 18-24 before turning 18 years old.

When you witness sexual harassment or violence happening to someone, what do you do? What drives you to act? 

Are you a passive or an active bystander?

 A bystander is a person who witnesses an event where, for example, poor behaviour is displayed. 

I believe a bystander is also the person you tell when an incident, such as sexual harassment, happens to you.

The bystander behavioural trends were initially researched in 1964 after the famous case of Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old bartender, who was stabbed outside her apartment in New York.  

Two weeks after the murder, the New York Times published an article, claiming that 38 witnesses saw or heard the attack, but none of them called the police or helped her. 

Although numerous invalid testimonies in the article were discovered by the researcher, the facts on the ground cited that there were witnesses who tried to call the police. 

This case became pivotal in establishing a foundation for understanding bystander behaviour.

The above research (and subsequent research) found that there are two types of psychological phenomena that influence bystander behaviour. 

They include pluralistic ignorance and false consensus effects. 

According to Simply Psychology, “pluralistic ignorance refers to a situation in which virtually every member of a group privately disagrees with the prevailing attitudes and beliefs of the group as a whole. This, in turn, leads to false consensus, where people conform to the thought-to-be majority opinion – even though it may not be considered just by most people”. 

An example of this could be when a person is being bullied by their manager at work. 

Even if you, as the colleague, believe what is being done to the colleague is wrong, you are reluctant to act out of fear.  

Pluralistic ignorance often inhibits the course of justice in taking place, because bystanders fail to speak up.

In Namibia, bystanders often are not willing to be witnesses in gender-based violence and other forms of bullying cases. Moreover, bystanders often blame the victim and discourage them from reporting their perpetrators.

A person with a false-consensus effect believes his/her thoughts are appropriate, normal and correct. 

However, he/she believes others who hold different beliefs are abnormal. 

An example of this is when some men believe it is okay to make sexual advances to a lady they like even if the feeling is not mutual. 

It is going to take time to de-normalise sexual harassment. More community involvement will be required to make that paradigm shift. 

What Should an Active Bystander Do?

Well, it starts with being more present and less self-absorbed. 

There are many things that distract us, limiting our ability to be active listeners and observers of our environment. 

You can use your phone to capture an incident where poor behaviour is being displayed. Then you offer that recording to the victim in the event he/she needs it to provide evidence to the police. 

Sometimes, it involves calling out bad behaviour when you are interacting with your friends. When someone makes a sexist joke, for example, you immediately call it out and tell the person why the joke is inappropriate. You should also not laugh at jokes or conversations that ‘slut shame’ women, for example. 

In any environment, bystanders need to focus on the person targeted.  

Should they observe how the person looks, and ascertain whether they look uncomfortable? 

Establish whether they are trying to escape or move away from the perpetrator. If none of the questions can be answered through your observations, then directly ask the victim (without looking at the perpetrator) if he/she is fine. 

Ensure you do not make the situation more dangerous, unsafe or disempowering to those you are trying to assist.

What an active bystander should not do

An active bystander does not always directly confront the perpetrator, nor is he/she required to report the incident to the police or manager.

In some cases, the victim might not want the police involved – out of fear of further being discriminated against, especially if the involvement is deemed illegal. 

The bystander should also not respond with violence or display poor behaviour towards the perpetrator. 

He/she is not allowed to hurl offensive language at the perpetrator either. 

Lastly, an active bystander does not impress his/her views on the victim. 

The bystander needs to empower a victim to act in a manner that the victim feels comfortable.

To conclude, there is an adage that says, ‘Mind your own business’. 

Rightfully so, however, when someone is in danger, your indirect or direct involvement could save their life. 

The Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality cannot be achieved by the government alone, nor can it be achieved by having rigorous protective mechanisms and systems in place. 

You, reading this article, can also do something without directly confronting the perpetrator. 

You just need to first be willing to assist where possible, be more observant and less self-absorbed.

*Morna Ikosa is a corporate communications and brand reputation strategist, passionate at sustainable developmentss