BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Billboards encouraging "bystander intervention" are appearing around the Buffalo area.
"If you see a billboard that talks about doing something when you see someone being harassed or potentially sexually assaulted, it's call to action of sorts," said Robyn Wiktorski-Reynolds, clinical operation officer at Crisis Services. She says the billboard campaign comes at a critical time in the wake of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements; empowering women to share the their stories of sexual harassment and assault.
"You just see a growing and growing conversation happening, and I believe the billboards or our social media targets really are there to amplify that conversation and make it more part of the public domain," said Wiktorski-Reynolds.
"Public awareness and education is absolutely critical to drawing attention to appropriate and inappropriate behavior. What is critical also is having the resources to back victims." Mary Travers Murphy, Family Justice Center executive director.
"They need to know that there's a place that they can call or a person that they can go to who's going to believe them and going to take action. Public awareness, phenomenal, but the resources behind it to help the victims of this kind of harassment and abuse is key,"