Stop the Silence: A Self-Paced Program on Bystander Intervention for Domestic Violence for College Students

Bystander intervention programs have the potential to address domestic violence in college settings by providing students with specific ways to support friends and peers experiencing abuse. However, the majority of bystander intervention programs require in-person facilitators and hours of commitment. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a self-paced online program focusing on bystander intervention for domestic violence. The Stop the Silence Project is a self-paced online program that can be utilized at no cost and in the absence of trained facilitators or scheduled training sessions. An experimental group of college students (n = 168) engaged with the program and completed the Bystander Intervention for Domestic Violence Questionnaire. A control group (n = 30) completed the questionnaire without engaging with the program. First, an exploratory factor analysis was performed to validate the Bystander Intervention for Domestic Violence Questionnaire. Results indicated that the questionnaire measures students’ willingness to offer support to peers, intentions to address domestic violence as a societal issue, and sense of responsibility to help one’s peers. Next, the two groups were compared on their responses to the questionnaire. College students who engaged with the program reported higher intentions to address domestic violence as a societal issue. This promising program offers one way to counter domestic violence when faced with limited resources in college and university settings.