Young men don’t feel confident intervening in violence against women and girls

Paid partnership with the UK Government’s ‘Enough’ campaign tackling violence against women and girls

The government have released a campaign explaining how best to intervene should you witness violence against women or girls.

The key to understanding how to stop abuse, is recognising that abuse takes many forms. This can be anything from physical abuse to unwanted staring, suggestive comments, harassment, or controlling behaviour.

New figures polled through One Pulse have revealed that while 35% of men surveyed claim to have witnessed violence against women in the last 12 months, one in three didn't intervene (or don't remember doing so), the last time they witnessed it.

One third of those surveyed who didn’t intervene claim to have regretted their decision.

While the internet is full of information on what to do, many people still don’t know how to react when they’re faced with a situation right in front of their eyes, as these statistics show.

To help tackle this, the government has launched a new national campaign explaining how you can safely intervene should you witness violence against women or girls.

The campaign provides advice to anyone witnessing abuse, on the safe ways to intervene if they see an incident of violence against women and girls, ranging from sexual harassment – on the street, on public transport or at work – to sharing intimate images of someone without their consent; coercive control in a relationship; or unwanted touching.

But just how do you react should you see something wrong? Well, while there are many different routes to take it’s worth remembering the campaigns’ STOP acronym - which provides the public with multiple options for intervening safely if they witness abuse.

Say Something - Tell the abuser to stop.

Tell Someone - Find someone to help.

Offer Support - Any form of support matters.

Provide A Diversion - Divert the abuser's attention.

We can all do something to challenge abuse.

If you want to learn more about how to help prevent violence against women and girls safely Home | ENOUGH.

All stats based on responses from 500 men aged 18-24 in the UK (Nov. 2023)