Dear John,

Thanks for signing up to receive your free Guide to Bystander Intervention! Over the next 5 days, you'll receive one tip per day on how to safely intervene when you see harassment. We call these the "5 D's of Bystander Intervention."

Today's "D" is Distraction!

Distraction is a subtle and creative way to intervene. The aim is simply to derail the incident by interrupting it. The idea is to ignore the person who is harassing and engage directly with the person who is being harassed; talk about something completely unrelated to the harassment. You can try some things like:

• Talk to them about something random and take attention off of the person who is harassing.
• Get in the way. Continue what you were doing, but get between the person who is harassing and the person who is being harassed.
• Accidentally-on-purpose spill your coffee or make a subtle, but clear commotion.

Of course, read the situation and choose your Distract method accordingly; the goal is for your act or statement to de-escalate the situation.

Stay tuned for four more ways to intervene when you see harassment, and thanks for being awesome. We couldn't be more grateful for your willingness to do your part.

love,
Hollaback!