Empathy, Intersectionality and Supporting Survivors During COVID-19

A core tenet of the Bringing in the Bystander® program is cultivating empathy. Empathy is defined by Merriam-Webster as ‘the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner”. Empathy is foundational to our program because empathy is critical to a bystander’s situational awareness and likelihood that they will intervene on behalf of someone else. Situational awareness can be defined simply as identifying what is going on around us and thus forms the foundation of good decision making.[i] Fostering empathy and situational awareness, however, is not enough, and COVID-19 illuminates how systems of oppression intersect to impact survivors.

Empathy through an Intersectional Lens

Fostering empathy also requires cultivating an intersectional lens. Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality to describe how people exist at the intersections of multiple systems of oppression and, therefore, experience discrimination and violence unique to those overlapping identity categories. Crenshaw provided an example of how Black women were not hired for certain jobs while Black men and White women were, indicating that the oppression Black women face is not simply about being Black or being a Woman but that unique intersection. Indeed, research also suggests that White women bystanders extend less empathy to and intervene less on behalf of Black women survivors than they do to survivors who are White. We know less about how multiple intersecting identities impact bystanders and survivors. Research has also shown that bisexual women face significantly more sexual violence than lesbian women, so it is not simply a matter of someone facing increased discrimation from being both a woman and non-heterosexual, but we aren’t sure why.

Empathy Can Be Learned

As bystanders, we are often confronted with situations in which we do not share the same social location as the person we hope to help or support. Luckily, empathy is something we can continue to build through increased awareness and opportunities for critical thinking. In Bringing in the Bystander®, we build situational awareness by discussing social perceptions of identity and the potential social impact of intervening. We also center how perceptions and lack of support impact how and if underrepresented and vulnerable groups benefit from bystander intervention and connection with resources. 

Intersectionality and Consequences of COVID-19

Consider the following scenarios that illustrate how some survivors may be living at the intersection of various forms of oppression that are amplified during COVID-19 and how you might provide support as a bystander:

  • A group of friends are sexually harassed on social media for sharing throwback photos of them at a party for the Korean Student Association and are also told to “take their virus and go back to China.”

  • A student knows they will face abuse if they return to their family of origin because their family does not accept they are transgender. With only days to decide where to go, the student decides to live with a new dating partner who has started to physically abuse them. 

  • A student is experiencing increased symptoms of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder because every time she needs to wear a mask she gets flashbacks of when she was sexually assaulted. 

  • A student’s friends are all hoping to return to campus in the Fall, but she is worried about it because she has an autoimmune disorder. When she shares this concern, her friends say she’s “overreacting” and the risk is “low to people our age.” This brings up similar feelings she had when her friends dismissed her ex-boyfriend’s stalking behavior.

  • A student wears a mask when he delivers groceries several days a week as an essential worker in a predominantly White area. Recently, someone in the grocery store called the police on him, seemingly because they were concerned that he, a Black man, was going to commit a crime. He has had difficulty sleeping because of the fear that he will be harmed by the police and is having flashbacks to experiences of sexual abuse as teenager.

  • A student’s boyfriend continues to tell her she needs to party with him despite physical distancing measures. The student is concerned about the health of her grandparents, but her boyfriend has threatened that if she doesn’t see him, he will report her family to ICE. 

Providing Support to Survivors during COVID-19

Each of these students’ experiences was informed by the unique intersections of their identities, past experiences, and current realities. We all have a role to play in ensuring that all survivors receive help and support during COVID-19. Some ways to foster empathy with an intersectional lens during COVID-19 are to:

COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated a lot of long-lasting and systemic problems, but we can all be a part of the solution as we work to end violence by ending oppression.

LB Klein, MSW, MPA is director of trainer development and a lead trainer with Soteria Solutions. She is also a PhD candidate and injury and violence prevention fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Prevention Innovations Research Center Fellow at the University of New Hampshire.


[i] Flin R, O’Connor P, Crichton M. Safety at the Sharp End: A Guide to Non-Technical Skills. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2008.

Jennifer ScraffordCOVID-19