As part of the work of the Safety Advisory Group Essex County Council are interested in offering Bystander Intervention Training to the residents of Essex.

This is following on from a successful run of pilot sessions with ECC staff at all levels across all functions.

We would like this training to equip residents with the tools they need to successfully, and crucially safely, intervene in situations that may be uncomfortable or threatening for all residents, and women in particular.

The standard route to this appears to be teaching the 4D's technique (Direct, Distraction, Delegation and Delay) for intervention and practicing their application with scenarios in some variation. • Direct action looks at intervening directly in the moment to call out harmful behaviour and shut it down. • Distraction is useful in micro-aggression situations to not draw attention to a situation and take the awkwardness out of the room. • Delegation involves escalating the issue fairly. • Delay gives you time to think and assess what the best way to intervene is.

Previous engagement with the market has indicated that Bystander Intervention Training is not traditionally offered outside of a workplace, which has led to ECC wanting to engage further.

We would be grateful if you could answer some questions (please limit your responses 250 words where possible) and return your answers to Neave Beard, Lead for Strengthening Communities at Essex County Council at Neave.Beard@essex.gov.uk.