Social experiment highlights low level of bystander intervention

A social experiment by a Swedish group found that people generally did not intervene when confronted by domestic abuse.

STHLM Panda, which posts social experiments on YouTube, set up a hidden camera in a elevator while members of the group role played a man being abusive to his female partner. The male actors swore at the women, put them down, threatened them and physically assaulted them while members of the public were in the lift.

STHLM Panda reported out of 53 people which entered the elevator, only one reacted. She said "I’m gonna call the police if you touch her again." Most others ignored the abuse and left the elevator.

STHLM Panda director Konrad Ydhage, who played one of the abusive partners, said  "We made this video to test domestic violence and violence in close relations and to see if people react when they really need to. We were expecting that about 50% would intervene. I was prepared to take a hit by the bigger lads who entered the lift. But sadly enough they walked out on the girl."

View the video. Click the subtitles icon on the bottom right of the bar for English subtitles.

New Zealand bystander intervention resources

The It's Not OK Campaign provides practical tips and information for people who want to help, including sections: Things I can say or do, What if they get angry and What if I'm rejected?

Rape Prevention Education has developed a five minute video to support teenagers to prevent sexual violence. It seeks to provide 15-18 year olds with ways to safely "step up and speak out" when they see something that isn't OK.

Who Are You? is a New Zealand sexual violence bystander intervention video aimed at 18+ year old young people.

Are you that someone? was a campaign focussed on equipping young people (aged 16-21) with the confidence and knowledge to speak up and step in to keep each other safe from sexual violence. It ran in June and July 2014.

SASH Nelson has produced a series of posters on bystander intervention to prevent sexual violence which are freely available for use.

International bystander intervention resources

International resources available via the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse library include:

Violence and Silence (2011), a TEDxWomen talk by Jackson Katz which discusses men’s responsibility to challenge peer cultures that condone gender based violence.

Review of bystander approaches in support of preventing violence against women, and the subsequent report, More than ready: bystander action to prevent violence against women in the Victorian community from the VicHealth Bystander Research Project (2012).

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center published an information packet on engaging bystanders to prevent sexual violence in 2013, providing sexual violence advocates, preventionists and community workers with current research, resources and examples of bystander intervention programmes.

Media

Swedish 'social experiment' shows people ignoring domestic abuse in a lift, The Guardian, 14.11.2014

Video shows bystanders ignoring domestic abuse, The Dominion Post, 14.11.2014

Image: Bystander by bitsorf. Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)