Third-party intervention in high-risk situations in Africa: exploring factors influencing bystander intervention in sexual violence among college students

In recent times, bystander intervention has become an integral part of the effort to address the high prevalence rates of sexual violence on college campuses. Bystanders put their lives at risk by preventing high-risk situations from happening. Despite their critical role, bystander intervention has...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Global crime 2024-04, Vol.25 (2), p.156-176
Main Authors: Boateng, Francis D., Oti-Boadi, Mabel, Doumbia, Nabi Youla, Hammond, Queencilla
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
Behavior
Bystander intervention
Bystanders
College students
Colleges & universities
Decision making
High risk
Intervention
Personality
Personality traits
Risk
Sense of community
Sex crimes
Sexual consent
Sexual violence
sexual violence
personality traits
Violence
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Summary:In recent times, bystander intervention has become an integral part of the effort to address the high prevalence rates of sexual violence on college campuses. Bystanders put their lives at risk by preventing high-risk situations from happening. Despite their critical role, bystander intervention has not been adequately examined to understand their decision-making process. The current study examined the behaviour of bystanders from an African perspective using college student data from Ghana and Ivory Coast. Specifically, the study examined the influence of sexual consent attitudes, personality traits, sense of community, and prior experiences of sexual violence on two dimensions of bystander intervention. The results revealed that lack of behavioural control, sexual consent norms, and a sense of community influence bystanders' decision to intervene. Also, while personality traits failed to explain bystander behaviour, experience with sexual violence did. These findings offer important insights into developing effective sexual assault programmes on campus.
ISSN:1744-0572
1744-0580
DOI:10.1080/17440572.2024.2352567