The City of Edmonton is encouraging transit riders to stand up when they see harassment on Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) vehicles and at stops and stations.
One Strong Voice is an awareness campaign aimed at educating bystanders on six actions they can take to intervene when they see harassment, according to the city.
“The campaign’s concept … speaks to the inner voice that tells us we should do something to help, but may need a little extra knowledge and confidence to take that first step,” said Sarah Feldman with ETS.
Three of the recommended actions are ones that can be taken during the harassment.
The city says bystanders can call out what’s happening and ask if the victim is OK, de-escalate by speaking calmly and slowly to those involved, or distract by drawing the initiator’s attention away from the victim.
The other actions are for after the fact, if the bystander doesn’t feel safe intervening in the moment.
The city encourages bystanders to follow up with the victim to see how they’re doing, to document the issue and offer the information to the victim, or delegate by asking a peace officer for help.
Edmonton police said crime is getting worse on transit, both in Edmonton and across Canada, leading some to think the campaign is poorly timed or even dangerous.
“I think it’s well-intentioned – I think the timing is absolutely terrible,” said Ward pihêsiwin Coun. Tim Cartmell.
“What we’re seeing on transit in terms of people being confronted, there’s violent interactions, there’s threatening behaviour, and we have some really unpredictable people in those spaces.”
Cartmell said intervening in potentially violent interactions is a “mistake” and instead recommends finding a police officer or transit peace officer to alert.
“You should not be getting in the middle of that.”
A criminologist calls the campaign a step in the right direction, and part of a broader effort by the city to reduce violence.
“This is a campaign I believe is necessary. I believe it’s important,” said Temitope Oriola, criminology professor at the University of Alberta.
Oriola said reaction to these campaigns tends to be mixed, but there is value in generating awareness and taking action if appropriate.
“When we encounter incidents of criminal or quasi-criminal nature within the transit system, we don’t simply just whip out our cellphones to record some interesting or entertaining videos – there are other steps we can take,” he said.
Comments