Public displays of violence against women most often not tolerated by middle-aged people – study
11 December 2024 14:23
A behavioral experiment has been conducted in the capital’s public transport to find out whether it is safe and how ordinary Kiev citizens react to manifestations of gender-based violence. The results of the behavioral experiment are reported on the website of the UNDP office in Ukraine, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The behavioral experiment was conducted within the framework of a joint initiative of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS Kyiv), the Innovative Development Laboratory of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine and the Gender Working Group on “Gender-based violence in public transport in Ukraine” within the framework of the campaign “16 days of activism against gender-based violence”.
What was the behavioral experiment
The purpose of the experiment was to study the reaction of ordinary people to unfair behavior, to reveal hidden problems, prejudices and fears of people who witnessed inappropriate behavior, to check whether passengers will notice the discomfort of women and intervene, make a remark.
To do this, guest actors acted out subway scenes titled “The Intrusive Passenger” and “Accusations of Occupied Space.” In the former, a man tried to strike up a conversation with a woman who demonstrated that she didn’t feel comfortable because of it. The actor became increasingly insistent, ignoring the actress’ attempts to end the conversation. In the second, the man claimed that the woman was taking “his” place. He insisted that she stand up, even if there were free seats nearby.
What was found out as a result of the experiment
The organizers managed to find out that gender-based violence is most often not tolerated by people aged 40-45 years. Passengers 14-20 years old showed reactions of embarrassment, anxiety, confusion. In young girls asocial behavior causes moral condemnation. Their reaction to assert their rights to observe the norms of behavior in public places is confident and adequate. People of older age immediately stop any attempts to violate the public peace.
It turned out that the sounds of a woman’s voice complaining aggressively became a weak signal for users of the subway. It can also be assumed that in some cases passive patience with the source of irritation is one of the manifestations of passive silencing of gender-based violence.
What is the overall situation in Ukraine with manifestations of violence against women?
In the first 9 months of this year, almost 33 thousand calls to the national hotline for the prevention of domestic violence, human trafficking and gender discrimination were recorded.
The number of cases of domestic violence in Ukraine is growing from year to year – the exception was only the first year of full-scale invasion, according to the analytical platform “Opendatabot”. Already in 2023 registered more than 2,700 relevant criminal proceedings. This is 11% more than in 2021. In total, over the last 5 years in Ukraine registered more than 10 thousand cases of domestic violence. But not all such cases reach the court.
This year, an average of 300 such cases per month are registered. For comparison, in 2021 they opened about 200 per month.
