Examining Bystander Intervention in the Wake of #BlackLivesMatter and #TransLivesMatter

Oppression is the root cause of violence, and we must work from an antioppression and social justice framework to prevent it. —The Oregon Sexual Assault Task Force, 2015 High profile studies have operationalized campus sexual assault as a heteronormative, nonconsensual sexual act and revealed the pervasiveness of alcohol-facilitated assaults perpetrated against young women by young men they know (Krebs, Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2009; Lisak & Miller, 2002). These contributions have increased practitioners’ understandings about the prevalence of campus sexual assault, provided insight into the predatory behaviors of assailants, and informed the development of some of the most well-known collegiate bystander programs. While informative, these studies are not, as we might expect, exhaustive; a diversity of identities and experiences are left out of ongoing discussions on the prevalence and reduction of campus sexual assault. To date, intervention programs have yielded promising data and could be bolstered with the integration of research focused on the experiences of college student victims and bystanders of diverse sexual orientations, racial backgrounds, and/or gender identities