This article reports on a study that used qualitative, in-depth interviews with dating and sexual violence survivors, in order to explore their perspectives on bystander intervention; it discusses the results and provides recommendations for future research.
While bystander intervention education has demonstrated promise as a strategy to reduce dating and sexual violence (DSV) on campus, little is known about whether survivors on whose behalf the interventions take place find these helpful. This paper uses qualitative, in-depth interviews with 33 DSV survivors to explore their perspectives on bystander intervention. Results indicate that while some interventions were identified as helpful, especially those that provided support to the survivor, many were not helpful enough or even harmful. Further work is needed to understand the consequences of bystander action. (Published Abstracts Provided)