When Jay Z was violently attacked by his wife’s sister Solange, the reaction from a large chunk of the internet was to make light of the situation. Within hours of the video being posted by TMZ, #whatJayZsaidtoSolange trended worldwide and thousands of memes were created making light of Jay Z ‘100th problem’. We had to wonder, if the roles were reversed, would the world find the whole thing so amusing? When it comes to violence against men by women, it seems we can be, at best, blissfully unaware and, at worst, dangerously complacent.
But a new video by Mankind, a charity which supports male victims of domestic violence, is looking to challenge our attitudes towards domestic abuse by releasing a shocking new video which taps into some of our deep routed assumptions. Mankind hid three cameras in a central London location and filmed people on the street’s reaction to a guy abusing his girlfriend and then the same girl abusing her boyfriend. What follows shows how quick we are to react when we see a woman getting abused, but how little we actually do to intervene when the roles are reversed. It’s pretty shocking, especially as Mankind also reveal that 40% of domestic violence is actually suffered by men.
It’s a shocking reminder for us all to treat both men and women with kindness and respect and to support, assist and listen to anyone suffering from domestic abuse. There really isn’t anything funny about it.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.