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Whether you hear sounds of domestic violence next door or come across a rape in progress or see a woman being harassed on the street by a group of men, you can change the outcome if you step up to intervene. In some cases, taking action may save the life of the woman or girl being attacked.

If you want to intervene but have no idea how to handle the situation, the general resources on this page will help you be prepared to do so.

For ideas and suggestions on how to intervene to stop specific forms of violence against women, we have also included links to resources on at the bottom of pages that focus on that form of violence against women in our “VAW Facts” section.

For a starter list of organisations worldwide which specialise in eradicating specific forms of violence against women, see our “Resources” section.

Intervention

  1. 16 Ideas for Taking That First Step Towards Stopping Violence Against Women
  2. 16 Ways to Speak Up to Break the Silence Around Violence Against Women
  3. 16 Safe and Creative Ways for Bystanders to Become Upstanders in Stopping Violence Against Women
  4. 16 Ways Kids and Teens Can Help Stop Violence Against Women
  5. 16 Ideas and Actions to Stop Victim-Blaming
  6. How to Disrupt 16 Practices of Gender-based Violence in College
  7. 16 Ways for Boys and Men to take action against Gender-based Violence in a Post-#MeToo World
  8. 16 Ways to Take Action against Human Trafficking
  9. 16 Safety Ideas and Tips for Women Facing Domestic Violence over the Holiday Season (includes section for friends and family members)
  10. 16 Ways Clinicians can Advocate for Stopping Gender-based Violence in Their Communities

Prevention & Education

  1. 16 Ideas for Educating Kids about Violence Against Women and being Non-Violent
  2. 16 Ways to Educate Individuals and Communities about Sexual Consent
  3. 16 Ways College Students Can Transform a Culture of Violence Against Women on Campus
  4. 16 Ways Healthcare Professionals can Help Prevent Violence Against Women

Support

  1. 16 Ways You Can Support a Survivor of Violence Against Women
  2. 16 Ideas for Helping Survivors of Violence Against Women Rebuild Their Lives
  3. 16 Tips for Journalists Reporting on Violence Against Women
  4. 16 Ways that Workplaces can Help Victims and Survivors of Violence Against Women
  5. 16 Things You Can Donate to Women’s Shelters to Help Change Lives
  6. 16 Ideas for Supporting Your Local and National Rape Crisis Centers
  7. 16 Ways to Help Your Local Domestic Violence Shelter

Online Intervention, Prevention, & Support

  1. 16 Ways Men Can Help Stop Online Violence Against Women
  2. 16 Ways You Can Make Online Spaces Safer for Women
  3. 16 Ideas for Using Technology to Prevent and Stop Violence Against Women

Video Resource

Dr Zachary Kaufman, Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School and Senior Fellow, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government talks about his paper “Protectors of Predators or Prey: Bystanders and Upstanders Amid Sexual Violence” which will be published by the Southern California Law Review (forthcoming 2019). You can download the paper here for free: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c…

Together with Regina Yau, Founder and President of The Pixel Project, Dr Kaufman discusses a new approach to the duty to report on sexual violence and possibly other crimes and crises. Legal prescriptions concern strengthening, spreading, and standardizing duty-to-report laws at the state level and introducing them at the federal level. Social prescriptions include raising public awareness of duty-to-report laws and creating what the Article calls “upstander prizes” and “upstander commissions” to identify, honor, and reward upstanders, including for their efforts to mitigate sexual crimes. This combination of carrots and sticks may help reduce the sexual violence epidemic.