Online workshops show how to stand up against sexual harassment and violence

A series of workshops created by the Raise Your Voice project includes a session on Bystander Intervention that will demonstrate five possible actions that witnesses can consider to safely help women targeted by harassment.

“Taking action in a safe way can change lives and change our community. We want to create a culture where people will not tolerate this behaviour and send a message that it has to stop,” explained Sarah Stack, Training and Development Coordinator from the Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA) who will be delivering some of the workshops.

She added: “Most people are unsure how to help. They may be afraid of being attacked themselves, either physically or verbally. No one should ever take action if they feel at risk but the tactics we teach show ways to diffuse the situation or assist a victim. These actions can be life changing.”

Helen Crickard from project partner Reclaim the Agenda added: “We welcome Belfast City Council supporting these workshops, as harassment has been normalised in our society. To eradicate this behaviour, we need everyone to step up and call out misogynistic behaviours.”

The workshops on bystander support and allyship show people how to intervene when they witness abuse and also how to report it.

“We know that it is not enough to have robust laws, although that is important. We recognise that we have to be informed on the impacts and how to effectively eradicate these behaviours, and everyone has an important role in doing this,” Helen said.

The tools taught in the workshop include how to: Distract, Delay, Delegate, Direct and Document as developed by Right To Be (righttobe.org). These different tools allow an individual to choose a method of intervention that best suits them and takes into account personal safety.

Another workshop on Allyship specifically looks at ways that men and boys can support women to call out negative attitudes and behaviours.

The workshops include: Everything You Wanted To Know About Consent But Were Afraid to Ask (Feb 28); Digital/Online Abuse (Mar 7); Allyship (Mar 14) and Bystander Intervention (Mar 28). They are free to attend but booking is required online. Go to

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/anti-sexual-harassment-1618689