This Saturday 21st November 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘What Does It Take To Be An Active Bystander?’ Virginia Tech states the following: “Bystanders, the largest group involved in violence, who greatly outnumber both perpetrators and victims have the power to stop abuse and to get help for people who have been victimized. Active bystanders are people who are aware of an abusive situation, and choose to speak up and say or do something without putting their own safety at risk.” Would you consider being an active bystander and what that would look like for you? What holds people back from intervening do you think? My guest this week in the arts hour of my show is award-winning music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg. She worked on the film The Hunting Ground (it airs on CNN 11/22 8 PM EST), which is about sexual assault on college campuses. This is a real problem, not least because colleges minimise it and try to sweep it under the carpet whenever possible. Research shows that only 8% of men on campus commit nearly all the sexual assaults so what do you think the majority can do to try to combat this problem? Many victims of sexual assault are met with a victim-blaming attitude. Is this something you can relate to? Have you ever found yourself blaming a victim when you have read about an event in the media? Or have you been blamed yourself or know anyone who has? Why do you think that people most often do not intervene when they see a situation that could escalate into a sexual assault? What does it take to be an active bystander?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
