Domestic Violence Awareness Month: A film about prevention
FROM AWARENESS TO PREVENTION
Domestic Violence Awareness Month is just a week away. Screen this powerful film to explore the role all of us can play in preventing gender violence.
Each October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month calls attention to the devastating toll of domestic abuse and the urgent need to support survivors. But it also raises another crucial question: What can we do to help prevent gender violence before it happens?
That question is at the heart of The Bystander Moment, featuring leading gender violence prevention educator Jackson Katz.
Rather than seeing domestic violence and sexual violence through the lens of individual abusers or their victims, the film looks at the larger cultural forces that enable men’s violence against women in the first place, from the dynamics of male peer groups, deeply ingrained ideas about masculinity, and media messages that normalize sexism, to the pressure people often feel to stay silent when they witness abusive behavior.
Even more importantly, The Bystander Moment shows what it looks like to break that silence.
This October, we’re offering 15% off The Bystander Moment and all titles in our Gender Violence Prevention Collection with the code DVAM2026.
A PROVEN EDUCATION TOOL
Widely used by educators, advocates, athletic programs, and prevention organizations, The Bystander Moment:
- Shows how male peer cultures can normalize sexist and abusive behavior and discourage people from speaking up.
- Examines the media messages and cultural myths that help excuse gender violence and reinforce damaging ideas about masculinity.
- Demonstrates how bystanders can interrupt and challenge the attitudes and behaviors that lead to abuse, and change the norms of their peer groups and communities.
- Emphasizes the importance of engaging people, especially young men, not as potential perpetrators but as allies — and leaders — with a vital role to play in preventing gender violence.
FREE DISCUSSION GUIDE
To support teaching and screenings, and to facilitate dialogue, we’ve created a free discussion guide to accompany The Bystander Moment. It includes questions, prompts, and activities designed for classrooms, libraries, campus programs, and community screenings. Download the discussion guide here.
BOOK A SCREENING
If you book a screening by October 31, you’ll receive 15% off with the code DVAM2026. Click here to set up a screening.
Praise for the Film
I’m so thankful this movie exists. Jackson Katz delivers a convincing case for a small fix that could fundamentally change our society in more ways than we can imagine.”
— Liz Plank | Journalist & Author of For the Love of Men: From Toxic to a More Mindful Masculinity
The Bystander Moment is a must-see documentary. I’ve screened it in my class at Harvard Law, and intend to show it every semester moving forward!”
— Diane L. Rosenfeld, JD, LLM | Founding Director, Gender Violence Program at Harvard Law School
“A great documentary film that builds on the momentum of the #MeToo movement and sheds light on what is needed to prevent gender-based violence.”
— Alisha Somji, MPH | Community Health Manager, Kaiser Permanente
“The Bystander Moment is a wise and passionate beacon for engaged activism in colleges, sports, the military and workplaces.”
— Michael A. Messner, Ph.D. | Co-author of Some Men: Feminist Allies and the Movement to End Violence Against Women
“A terrific, timely, and necessary video … needs to be screened in classrooms and communities far and wide.”
— Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., creator of the award-winning Killing Us Softly video series
“The advocates and educators we work with will benefit immensely from this resource.”
— Amanda Grady Sexton | Director of Public Affairs for the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
“The Bystander Moment is a great tool for all of us working with men and boys to overcome a culture of violence and misogyny that translates into violence against women and girls.”
— Oswaldo Montoya | Social Change Worker, Global MenEngage Alliance
