Women's Safety is Everybody's Concern: 16 Days of Activism

The independent report published by Engender in March 2025 (Primary Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls in Scotland) details how local area partners can work together to make sure women are safe in different workplaces formal settings (e.g. the Equally Safe at Work, at School and in Practice programmes).

However, outside of work - what can we all do, when we are out in the community, in public spaces or on public transport?

At FCE, we recommend becoming directly involved in active allyship. This involves becoming more informed and involved in the work that is happening in Fife which supports women from all communities and protected characteristics to access support when it is needed, and to be able to participate fully where they live, work and study.

In our view it is a simple choice, between being a person that steps in, and gets involved in making things better, or the person that walks away.

In preventing violence against women and girls, we support the approach of White Ribbon Fife and the practice of Bystander intervention (e.g. make a change to the situation, but stay safe while doing so). Too often people shy away from intervening when they could make a change that would prevent a situation from getting worse.

How do we tackle the bystander effect?

The bystander effect is something that is often brought up when discussing safety within communities. When a situation arises with multiple people around, it is found that people are less likely to step in with what is going on around them and does not take action to assist or resolve what is happening. An active bystander is someone who has the skills and knowledge to not only see what is happening but can intervene when necessary to keep everyone safe and reduce the risk of situations escalating further.

The Four D’s of Bystander Intervention are a set of actions you can take to safely de-escalate situations:

·         Direct action: Directly intervene (only if it’s safe to do so!) Use your voice or body language to call out inappropriate behaviour or language. The most important aspect of direct intervention is to make sure that you are safe and that your actions don’t make the situation any worse or more dangerous.

·         Distract: If direct intervention is not safe, causing a distraction can be enough to interrupt the situation. Asking a question, creating a diversion or bringing in a totally new subject can be just enough to put off a potential perpetrator.

·         Delegate: Delegating is not avoiding helping others but directing them to a more appropriate authority. It can be anyone from your line manager to the Police, if you feel that they are able to handle the situation better and safely.

·         Delay: Similarly to delegation, delaying doesn’t mean that you aren’t helping someone. If you hesitate to help, you can collate what happened with others who may be there, check in with the person affected and ensure that the right people are in touch, whether that’s colleagues, friends or emergency services.

Active bystanders are crucial in keeping people from all communities safe in public and private settings.

How can I share my concerns?

Fife Centre for Equalities is a third-party reporting centre for hate crime and incidents. If you feel unsafe in your community or wish to share any community concerns you have experienced, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Tell if there are areas, streets or location which make you feel unsafe and where we can work together with community safety partners to improve wellbeing for all.

Click here to contact us.