From Kavitha Ramakrishnan, Domestic and Sexual Violence Reduction Policy Officer - Safer Kingston Partnership

We're very excited to launch two Bystander community sessions in Kingston. This is open to anyone who lives/works in Kingston. You will also see information on the Kingston council social media pages.

Details of Training:

Many of us when faced with a challenging situation would hope we could do something to help someone in need, especially when that person is a friend, colleague or neighbour. The reality is, for a number of reasons, that bit more

complicated.  A number of ‘invisible’ forces, psychological and social, exist that can

prevent us from helping or responding safely, when faced with a challenging, or dangerous situations. These forces lead us to feelings of confusion, distraction, even insecurity.

When these forces appear, the presence of inactive others can influence us to simply watch, to wait and so become bystanders ourselves.  In many cases these forces lead to us either ignoring danger or not lending a hand to another person, even a friend. This is the bystander effect.

At the end of the training individuals will be able to:

• Discuss the roles of bystanders in the prevention of violence
• Describe the bystander effect and other inhibitors to bystander intervention.
• Identify a range of safe options available to bystanders to safely support/challenge others.
• Discuss the extent of domestic abuse in our communities.
• Discuss the term domestic abuse in all its forms
• Respond to a person who discloses domestic abuse.

There continues to be a stigma around Domestic Abuse within our communities. Furthermore, the impact on children experiencing domestic abuse in their homes is being played out on our streets. In many ways there will never be peace on our streets until we have peace in the home.

It is clear that society still sees this form of violence as a private issue. It is known that domestic violence takes place in many settings with ‘red flags’ often in plain sight.

There is a clear role for friends, colleagues, and neighbours to support victims and help create a society that communicates to perpetrators that their behaviours are totally unacceptable.

Video on training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoBnz3Md6ag

March 10th, 2022 - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/kingston-bystander-training-tickets-259447974877

March 17th, 2022 - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/kingston-bystander-training-tickets-261204458567