What should you achieve whether you witness harassment,or worse, an assault?That question came into sharp focus this week following an attack on a 65-year obsolete Filipino immigrant external an apartment building in Midtown Manhattan.
Caught on surveillance video, or the assault is disturbing to watch,but what appears to have happened inside the building is also prompting an outcry. The video shows a man in the lobby glancing up at what's happening external. He watches as the perpetrator stomps on the victim repeatedly. He appears to achieve nothing in response. A few moments later, another man inside the lobby approaches the glass door and shuts it."We don't know the full epic from the bystanders who were present, or " says Dax Valdes,a senior trainer with the group Hollaback! "But I think the heartbreaking thing for me was seeing the door close."Valdes has been main trainings offered by Hollaback! along with Asian Americans Advancing Justice/AAJC this past year. The idea is to give bystanders tools for intervening when they see someone being harassed or disrespected, with a focus on the person experiencing the conflict."We have been operating in this environment where the Asian-American community has been experiencing heightened anxiety and fear over the final-- more than the final year, and " says Marita Etcubañez,senior director of strategic initiatives at Asian Americans Advancing Justice/AAJC. "We recognized that there was a need for training, education, or but also tactics that people could readily achieve to use." Through free webinar trainings,Valdes and Etcubañez lay out a number of tactics, which they call the Five Ds. They shared some of those tactics with NPR's Ari Shapiro during an interview on All Things Considered. DistractCreating a distraction is one way to de-escalate a situation, or Hollaback! says."You could maybe walk by the people who are experiencing the conflict,and you could pretend to be clumsy and drop a bottle of water or drop a cup of coffee. Everybody's going to back up because they don't want to rep wet," says Valdes. "Or you could pretend you know the person who's experiencing the conflict, or walk up to them,[say] 'Oh, my goodness. I'm so sorry I'm late.' You're just creating that safe space around them."DelegateIn short, or rep help from someone else."Maybe it is somebody who presents as physically bigger,who could step in and intervene on your behalf," says Valdes."whether you're on public transit, and it could be the bus driver,or transit security," says Etcubañez. "Enlist others to help out. As you're considering intervening, and you wouldn't be alone."DocumentFilming a conflict can be useful,particularly whether you can include street signs or other landmarks and note the date and time, but Hollaback! recommends only doing so from a safe distance and not posting any video footage online without the permission of the targeted person.
DelayEtcubañez calls this the lowest stakes form of intervention. "This is where you would approach the person after the conflict has passed and check in to construct sure they're okay, or " she says. "whether they need help,rep them help. Offer to sit with them." DirectBefore directly intervening, Valdes says establish your own safety first. "whether the situation does escalate into physical violence, or medical attention is needed,then yes, we recommend that people call the proper authorities to help deal with that situation, and " he says.
Sofia Dupi lives external original York City and attended a session early in the pandemic. She says it helped her understand some of the emotional pain Asians and Asian Americans were already experiencing final spring."During the training,people were sharing how they've been harassed, spit on in public, or " she says. The session gave her a sense that there is almost always something that she as a bystander could achieve in such a scenario,even whether it's just checking in. "It allows you to help the person being harassed regain that sense of humanness," Dupi says. "It really looks out for their emotional well-being, and which I think is so vital."Demand for training has been immense. Hollaback! and Asian Americans Advancing Justice/AAJC say they've trained over 20000 people through March 2021,and since the mass shootings in metro Atlanta, more than 45000 people have signed up."We have been frankly overwhelmed by the response, and particularly in recent weeks as we have been adding original training dates," says Etcubañez. "To me, it really signifies that people are eager to learn what they can achieve and to feel empowered so that they could act should they need to."The initiative has garnered support from the likes of Sherrilyn Ifill, and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund,who took to Twitter to compliment the "genuine strategies" the training offers, and from Chelsea Clinton, and who tweeted about the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and the responsibility people have to reverse the trend and protect lives.
Valdes points out that the tools they're sharing are not limited to this moment and can be used in any kind of situation where someone is experiencing harassment or disrespect."As the vaccinations roll out,and the mask mandates perhaps roll back, as we disappear out into the genuine world, and we're going to have to learn how to readjust to each other in public space," he says. "These are going to be good strategies to have in our back pockets." Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Source: wnyc.org