Providing tools and examples to help navigate the nuances athletes, parents, coaches, and staff experience when witnessing misconduct or abuse.
#WeRideTogether, a non-profit whose mission is to prevent sexual misconduct in sport through education, awareness, and resources, is continuing to spark conversation around the subject of sexual abuse and develop its educational resources with its latest PSA, “Preventing Misconduct in Sports: Safe, Actionable Bystander Intervention.”
This third installment in #WeRideTogether’s “Preventing Misconduct in Sports” series details ways to directly and indirectly intervene in situations of abuse or misconduct. The new PSA recognizes that it can be hard to stand up to abuse, but we all have a role to play in preventing misconduct. Bystander intervention is the way in which third parties can observe and intervene to prevent abuse. It can take many forms, from dropping your water bottle to drawing attention away from an unhealthy interaction to calling out inappropriate behavior using the “name it; reframe it; get away from it” structure of intervention.
In conjunction with the PSA, #WeRideTogether has created the Safe, Active Bystander Intervention Toolkit (S.A.B.I. Toolkit) to help coaches, athletes, parents, and staff serve as safe, active bystanders, furthering healthy athletic environments. Intervention shows empathy and support for the person experiencing the harmful behavior. We know it can be hard to stand up against abuse. Remember, being an active bystander does not mean we have to be confrontational, but it does mean we have to act.
“Creating and maintaining safe athletic environments is a team sport – and we all have a role to play. By intervening when you see misconduct or abuse occur, you interrupt negative behavior patterns as they happen and emphasize best practices in prevention,” says Michaela Shepherd, Executive Director of #WeRideTogether.
To learn more, please check out #WeRideTogether’s latest blog post.
Founded in 2021, #WeRideTogether started as an awareness campaign and educational website designed to empower, inform, and unite the equestrian community around sexual misconduct prevention and create healthy training environments for all sports. Showcasing powerful first-person interviews from sexual abuse survivors, #WeRideTogether promotes transparent dialogue around sexual misconduct, raises awareness for the many forms grooming and abuse can take, and helps diminish the stigma and fear of coming forward by giving survivors a safe platform to share their voices. The organization has since grown into a 501(c)3 and is creating a blueprint to help make all sports safer for youth, amateur, and professional athletes.
Visit WeRideTogether.today to watch compelling PSAs, find educational tools and resources, and learn how you can help keep sports safe for everyone.
MEDIA CONTACT – For requests and questions, please contact:
Lauren Kay // Remarq // lauren@remarqinc.com – 310-409-8754