I’m sure you saw the recent TikTok frenzy that ensued when multiple women reported being punched in the face on the streets of NYC. Their experiences were largely sensationalized and capitalized on as newsroom clickbait, but they reinforce the threat that women face every single day in public spaces. Women have been conditioned to be hypervigilant of any and all possible dangers. Our water bottles transform into shields of armor and window shop reflections become our personal watchdogs.
But, as our knuckles tire from gripping our keys, 50% of women in the U.S. still think that women are sometimes responsible for being harassed, according to L’Oreal’s IPSOS study. Our shame and self-blame are seemingly just as societally conditioned as our hypervigilance. L’Oreal Paris noticed how street harassment was affecting women’s lives and self-worth and decided to take action.
During the week of April 16, L’Oreal Paris launched their Anti-Harassment Week as part of their Stand Up Against Street Harassment Program. They partnered with the international NGO Right To Be to open the dialogue about street harassment and provide actionable tips for how to intervene. Because, as much as Stanley water bottles make a powerful shield, they shouldn’t be the first line of defense. But, it’s no wonder that they are because L’Oreal found that 85% of women don’t think there is enough training on how to safely respond to harassment.
So, in order to close this educational gap, they are offering a training program that follows Right To Be’s 5D’s methodology. Their five techniques are an expert-approved set of tools to use to help you effectively intervene when witnessing street harassment. The 5D’s are distract, delegate, document, delay, and direct.
- distract
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Distraction is a way of intervening by drawing attention away from the scenario. The training recommends nonchalant actions like asking for directions, getting in the way, “accidentally” dropping something, or simply just moving closer to the interaction.
- Delegate
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In some cases, it’s unsafe to get involved, so you may decide to delegate the task to someone else. Delegation can look like asking an authority figure to intervene in the harassment you are witnessing.
- document
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As much as our phones keep us distracted from noticing danger around us, they also are a reliable tool for de-escalating dangerous situations. Taking a video of harassment creates proof of the encounter and may incentivize the harasser to stop. The training reminds you to always ask the person being harassed what they would like to do with the footage.
- delay
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Helping doesn’t always require physical intervention. Sometimes, it can be just as impactful to check in on the person who was harassed, ask if they need anything, and even remind them that it wasn’t their fault.
- Direct
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The fastest way to end harassment may be to call it out. Speak up and ask the harasser to leave the person alone. But, as much as this could seem like your one opportunity for a heroic movie moment, the training recommends that, in order to prevent violence, you keep the direct approach your last resort. The real movie moment will be the happy ending that occurs when you choose the safest intervention method.
The 5D’s are a quick shorthand for remembering your options when witnessing street harassment. Additionally, by learning how to identify harassment, we are given a powerful reminder that it is never the fault of the person being harassed. The Stand Up training is not only a tool, but a source of empowerment for women.
If you want to complete the training and learn more about fighting street harassment, you can choose between a digital session, which takes 10 minutes, or sign up for an hour-long live session with a Right To Be representative. So far, over 2.5 million people in 44 countries have been trained and the goal is to get just half a million more this year. L’Oreal Paris and Right To Be are showing us that we need to walk the walk when it comes to ending street harassment.