Eva Longoria Wants You to Learn the 5Ds This International Anti-Street Harassment Week

As a brand that values and supports the worth of women, L’Oréal Paris is going beyond beauty to help empower everyone to deal head-on with the widespread issue of street harassment. In honor of International Anti-Street Harassment Week taking place from April 3-9, L’Oréal Paris, brand spokeswoman Eva Longoria and global nonprofit Right To Be have joined forces to spread awareness on how to stand up to street harassment while staying safe.

Street harassment is any unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature. If you’ve ever been harassed in public, then you understand the feelings that can come along with it: Fear, anxiety, embarrassment, even sometimes helplessness. A widespread issue, street harassment can come in many forms, including but not limited to suggestive comments, whistles, sexually explicit touch and inappropriate jokes or gestures. And it may be more common than you think.

That’s why Right To Be (formerly Hollback!) conducts bystander intervention training to give people the tools to respond to and intervene in street harassment when they witness it (training even extends to how to deal with online abuse). The trainings consist of what they’ve coined as the 5Ds: 

1. Distract: Creating a distraction to de-escalate the situation. 

2. Delegate: Finding someone else to help.

3. Document: Creating documentation of the incident and then giving it to the person who was harassed.

4. Delay: Checking in on the person who experienced harassment.

5. Direct: Setting a boundary with the person doing the harassing, and then turning your attention to the person being harassed.

Everyday, they train hundreds of people to intervene in and also heal from street harassment. There will be several virtual and live events during International Anti-Street Harassment Week, across the globe — and across organizations — to bring awareness to the issue. Right To Be will be hosting general training sessions on street harassment, as well as anti-xenophobic street harassment sessions amongst others.

You can sign up for a training session, seek support if you’ve experienced harassment, donate or even partner with Right To Be by visiting the website. The goal is to get one million people trained in an effort to create a world free of harassment, because not only are you worth it, but because everyone has a right to be themselves without worrying that their safety may be at risk as a result.

Next: 10 Female-Led Organizations to Support on International Women’s Day — and Every Day

Written by: Shalwah Evans, Photo Courtesy of L’Oréal Paris