This example provided in only designed to show how to use the 3A’s of Acknowledge Assess Act. The ACTIONS depicted are not necessarily the best responses. They are shown here to illustrate the concept of using a Visual, Verbal, or Physical response to a particular type of harassment from a particular type of harasser.
You are walking down the sidewalk during the day and a man opens his coat and exposes himself in your direction.
STEP #1:
ACKNOWLEDGE – Yes. It was not a mistake and it was directed at you. What just happened? It was Exposing harassment behavior.
STEP #2:
A. ASSESS the Intention - What was the Intention of the Harasser? Provoke Reaction - To shock and disgust you, thus providing power to the Harasser.
B. ASSESS the Harasser – What type named harasser does this type of behavior? The Pervert.
C. ASSESS the Environment – Other people around, but no one else saw it.
D. ASSESS yourself – You are NOT afraid or intimidated. You want to respond to both make yourself feel better and make the Harasser feel worse.
STEP #3
A. ACT with a Visual Response – You look at him with contempt and make the universal sign of a “tiny penis”. You chuckle as you walk away.
B. ACT with a Verbal Response – You look at him with contempt and say “Pathetic”. You chuckle as you walk away.
C. ACT with a Physical Response – Take a picture and chuckle as you walk away.
The ACTUAL response will vary depending upon the circumstances and the nature of the people involved. The idea is to provide a FLEXIBLE STRATEGY as opposed to a canned response.