About ACT

What Is Bystander Intervention And Why Should You ACT?
When bystanders witness potentially dangerous or harmful situations, they have the ability to ACT (Assist. Call for help. Tell someone). This can be done using various methods. There have been multiple instances where there are several bystanders who are present in a situation where someone needs a bystander to intervene, but no one ACTs. This occurs for various reasons, including, but not limited to, lack of desire to get involved, lack of knowledge regarding how to intervene, and the inability to recognize warning signs that the situation may be dangerous or harmful. We want to prevent this at UTMB because we are committed to maintaining an environment that is safe for everyone. However, safety is a shared responsibility that requires bystanders to intervene and ACT when possible. Therefore, the goal of the bystander intervention program is to increase awareness, prevent dangerous situations from occurring and promote a culture of bystander intervention in the event that dangerous situations do occur. This initiative is designed to educate individuals regarding the issues and provide them with tools for prevention. We ask that you do the right thing and ACT to ensure that UTMB maintains a safe environment for everyone.

Who Is A Bystander?
Bystanders can include students, employees, faculty or third parties who may or may not be affiliated with UTMB. These individuals are not directly involved in a situation that is potentially dangerous or harmful but are witnesses who have the ability to intervene in a manner that is safe and comfortable for them.

Where Can Bystander Intervention Occur?
This can occur almost anywhere there is a person in a dangerous situation. This includes events that occur either on campus or off-campus. The bystander should stay alert and look for signs that someone around them may need them to ACT (Assist. Call for help. Tell someone).

When Should A Bystander Take Action?
Bystanders should ACT (Assist. Call for help. Tell someone) as soon as possible after identifying that someone may be in a potentially dangerous or harmful situation. People generally think that a potentially dangerous or harmful situation occurs between strangers, but often times these situations arise between friends, acquaintances or even people who are dating.

What are Some Benefits to Bystander Intervention?
Bystander Intervention discourages victim blaming and focuses on shifting responsibility to more than just a single individual. With bystanders as active participants, the sense of responsibility shifts away from victims and toward the family, friends and the community as a whole. Additionally, bystander intervention provides an opportunity to stray away from the social norm of men as perpetrators and women as victims. The promotion of this approach now forces all adults, both men and women, to be equally responsible for the prevention of sexual violence