Low Cost Interventions
5. Community Bystander Intervention Training
Equipping everyday people with the skills to recognise, respond to, and prevent harmful behaviours, like harassment, abuse, and violence - before, during, or after they occur. Serves to empower communities toward taking collecting responsibility; Reducing tolerance for harmful behaviours; Increasing safe intervention and reporting; Building safer environments for women and girls; Shifting cultural norms around violence and silence.
Evidence-based programmes (i.e. Green Dot, Bringing in the Bystander): £1,000-£5,000
Train-the-trainer sessions: £500-£1,000 per facilitator
Workshop delivery: (Venue hire £200-£500 per sessions; Materials £100-£300 per session) 10 sessions per annum £3,000
Community outreach & promotion: £1000
Total: £6,000-£12,000
Programme selection & customisation: 2-3 weeks
Facilitator recruitment & training: 3-4 weeks
Community engagement & promotion: 2 weeks
Workshop delivery: 4-6 weeks
Total: 2-3 months
Refresher training for facilitators: £1,000 per annum
Ongoing workshops (10 pa): £3,000 per annum
Monitoring & evaluation: £1000 per annum
Community engagement & materials: £1000 per annum
Annual Maintenance Cost: £6,000 per annum
Lifespan: 5-10 years
Effectiveness
The Home Office reviews bystander intervention training as an early intervention approach with a positive evidence base, though primarily in schools and universities. With 97% of women aged 18-24 having experienced harassment, there is a clear need for bystander programmes.
It is found that community mobilisation and norms-change programmes, like bystander intervention training, can reduce violence by 30-50% within 2-3 years. It is also found to improve recognition and reporting of harassment, and support police/local authority VAWG action plans.