I'm worried about my friend's behaviour towards others

Being worried about how a friend, classmate, teammate or acquaintance is behaving can be a really difficult position to find yourself in, and deciding on the right thing to do is not simple or easy. Speaking up or intervening, either at the time that you’ve seen something happen, or after the event, is sometimes called being an ‘active bystander’. The University runs a campaign called ‘Stand Up, Speak Out’. We want everyone at the university to be active bystanders and to feel confident in challenging all forms of unacceptable behaviour, and we have online training which is accessible for your entire time at University.

Here are some of the key points from that training:

Act – do something to stop the behaviour

Distract – create a diversion to help the victim get away

Get help – call campus security, a member of staff, another student or the Police

Talk - to the perpetrator and explain why their behavior was wrong

Support - the victim and help them to understand their options. Remember to get support yourself if you were affected

Report - the behaviour to the university or the police

There are examples of these types of interventions and much more information in the training.

Remember, your safety is your priority, only intervene yourself when it is safe for you to do so. If it is not safe at the time you can intervene later or get help from others.

Consent is present across everything we do and how we interact with others. Navigating consent is vital for success in your personal and professional relationships.

The University has partnered with The Consent Collective to provide a library of resources to students around sex, consent, and relationships. Many of these resources are helpful in figuring out how we can work together to create a culture of consent at the University.

 This video is 35 minutes long, but contains a lot of thoughtful and helpful advice about being an active bystander, ‘calling in’ our friends, and navigating difficult situations and conversations. 

This video is much shorter, only 5 minutes, and while it was originally made addressing flatmate relationships during COVID lockdowns, it still has a lot of helpful and succinct advice.

To access further materials click on the link to Consent Collective TV and select ‘Already have an account’. Login using your University of Bristol email and password.

Please remember, your wellbeing is really important, and the University has a range of wellbeing support. If you are not sure who to contact, you can speak to an Adviser from the University’s Student Wellbeing or Residential Life Services for advice and support. Contact Wellbeing Access to do this.