Bystander Effect Meets Slut Shaming

Via Feministing, an interesting if disturbing ABC (US) news report. The scene is a busy diner and a couple sits down. The woman has some bruises and scars that indicate prior physical abuse. The man is clearly being abusive in the diner, yelling at the woman, finding fault with everything she does, grabbing her and so forth. The couple are actors hired by ABC News and the whole thing is secretly filmed to find out whether a stranger will interfere.

I’ve recently written about the bystander effect so I was probably biased to expect little from the patrons. However, there is instant intervention for both the black and white actor-couple, as you can see from the [disturbing] video below.

(I couldn’t get the links to work so if you’re reading this by email click here to see the original post and see the videos).

I guess the main difference between this situation and the one from my older post about the homeless man on the street is that the diner patrons are expected to continue being in the vicinity of the attack. There is a palpable tension and people are eating so cannot leave. The expectation to do something may therefore be stronger.

However my pleasant surprise didn’t last long. Compassion has a limit; not a very high one. Watch what happens when the same situation is replayed but the woman is wearing more revealing clothing:

Several of the bystanders interviewed afterwards made reference to her being a prostitute, which apparently changes the situation. I admit that if the man was her pimp it’s a reasonable assumption that he’s more likely to be carrying a gun so you’re not that crazy for not interfering. But you can still call the police — the assumption seems to be that the woman is simply less deserving of help. However, the nail in that theory’s coffin is that from the clip of the 2nd situation, I still get the vibe of a “standard” abusive boyfriend and not a pimp.

When people interfere it’s not to comfort the woman but to tell the couple to stop “embarrassing” themselves. The issue at hand has switched from one of abuse and safety to public face and propriety. Instead of are-you-ok it’s you’re-making-ME-uncomfortable. For instance, one couple moves away to be further from the violent scene but still don’t think to do anything.

Another past post is relevant here — the one about justifying your actions and the effect this has on your future actions and personality. We see it in the interview as those who did not do anything justify themselves afterwards by saying that the woman was a prostitute. Even if before they might have thought they’d help in a case like this, the fact that they didn’t makes them more likely to slut-shame. And I’d wager they are now more likely to ignore cases like this and start being more “moralistic” about how it’s the prostitutes’ own fault for being abused by their pimps etc.

So there’s another reason to always help in cases like this (even if it’s sneaking away to call the police), no matter who the victim is. Because it’s not an isolated incident: not helping is very hazardous to your future moral health as a whole.