For a recent campaign for Biking Community of India, where bike riders from around the nation are going to ride on 5th August to stand up against molestation, I was told to answer a few questions which lead me to thinking about how one individual, who never molested someone or had been molested, can be an active participant in minimising the rate of such incidents.
As puzzling as this question sounds, we have to look deeper into the question itself. I realised that the answer is right in the question. An individual who has not been part of either situation can actually be a crucial bystander to intervene. What we have now is a mass of passive bystanders who look at the whole scenario, talk about it, or even write. But they never jump into the matter right there to see if they can help.
Imagine a situation where a female employee is being harassed by a co-worker or an authority. And the victim does not report the perpetrator. But there are people who have been a witness to the incident and they decide to report it to the higher authorities. This increases the probability of the perpetrator being punished.
This applies to every case where a group of interveners take charge to hold the criminal accountable for their crimes.
So if you are a part of a campaign against molestation, like the one Biking Community of India is hosting, and if you think that “I have never molested someone” or “I have never been molested” then this is your chance of being that bystander who intervenes and brings a change.