L’Oreal Paris and Hollaback have joined forces to help women around the world stand up to street harassment. This partnership is a way for both forces to create an initiative that trains one million people in bystander intervention, to tackle street harassment. 

In Canada, 48% of people identified sexual harassment as the number one issue for women and girls. 25% of victims around the world say someone helped, and 86% said they didn’t know how to handle the situation if they saw these events occurring. 

These statistics seem logical, as it can be quite alarming to witness certain harassment, and wonder if you stepped in would you become the victim as well. That is why L’Oreal and Hollaback want to educate one million people so that people are no longer considered a statistic. 

Already in 5 countries and projected to start in 6 more over the next year, standup.lorealparis.com, will help participants get trained in the 5D’s: Direct, Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay. 

Direct: Speak up and call the harasser out, then turn your attention to the person being harassed. If they respond, ignore them; don’t escalate. Only use direct as a last resort to prevent violence. Your safety and that of the person being harassed come first. 

Distract: Pretend to be a friend, ask for the time, cause a distraction, be creative. 

Delegate: Find someone in a position of authority (e.g. teacher, bartender or a bus driver) and ask them to intervene. 

Document: Watch and witness, write down or film the harassment, provide the footage to the victim and never post it online or use it without their permission. 

Delay: Comfort the harassed person after the incident and acknowledge that the behaviour was wrong. Be a friend. 

These 5D’s are a very important part of how to help someone out in a situation. Many women in these situations are usually strangers to their attacker, and many times most of these harassments tend to be sexual. 78% of women are sexually harassed in public spaces, and with these tactics, you could help stop and save a woman from a lifetime of trauma.

Join L’Oreal Paris and Hollaback and take their training course. It’s always good to know that you can be the one person who helps and changes someone’s life for the better. 

Visit standup.lorealparis.com to join the movement against street sexual harassment.