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Domain: Gender-Based Violence

Type: Research

Year: 2024 – ongoing

Research Team: Dr Rachel Bertram, Dr Aimee Smith, Dr Claire E.F Wright, Catharine Pruscino & Francesca Harrison

Partners: NSW/ACT Universities Prevention Connection, Respect.Now.Always UTS & the Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion UTS

The Bystander Ally Project: Minimising victim-survivor harm from bystander reactions to sexual assault and sexual harm

Overview
The Bystander Ally Project is a strategic research and evaluation initiative supporting the development of a whole-of-institution, victim/survivor-centred response to sexual assault and sexual harm (SASH). In partnership with the UTS Respect.Now.Always program and the NSW/ACT Universities Prevention Connection, this work aims to build an evidence base for effective post-incident bystander conduct and develop evaluative tools that strengthen institutional responses to disclosures.

Focus and Impact
Drawing on eight years of community activation through Respect.Now.Always, the project addresses two critical challenges in the SASH prevention landscape:

• The lack of meaningful, outcome-focused evaluation metrics for assessing the effectiveness of university-based programs; and
• The disproportionate burden placed on victim-survivors to seek support and advocate for institutional accountability through informal networks.

By deepening our understanding of what constitutes helpful bystander behaviour after a disclosure, the project informs the design of policies, procedures, and training that reduce harm, build institutional trust, and enhance consent culture. It also supports sector-wide strategies aligned with Respect@Work legislative reforms and the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence.

Intended Outcomes

• Clearer guidance on effective, trauma-informed bystander actions following SASH incidents
• Strengthened evaluation capacity for mainstream and university-based service providers
• Improved wellbeing outcomes for victim-survivors through more consistent and supportive institutional responses

This work contributes to building a safer, more accountable higher education sector by embedding prevention, response, recovery and evaluation in everyday organisational process and practice.

In Media