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Your support makes all the difference.A revealing hidden camera stunt has shown how stranger’s reactions to domestic violence differs depending on the gender of the victim.
Charity ManKind set up hidden cameras in a London park, and filmed onlooker's reactions to two different domestic violence scenarios.
In the first, a male actor attacks his ‘girlfriend’, prompting a swift reaction from shocked members of the public.
One woman threatens to call the police, telling the actress, “you don't have to put up with that honey, he's not worth it."
Another man makes sure the woman is okay and even offers his office as a place to escape her attacker.
But the crowd’s reaction to the second scenario is very different.
When the female actor attacks the man, not one person steps in to help the victim as he’s violently forced against the park railings.
In fact, many onlookers do nothing but stare and laugh.
Somerset-based charity ManKind Initiative claims the footage is important because society is failing to take male victims of domestic abuse seriously.
They claim that 40 per cent of domestic abuse victims are male, and that 720,000 men were victimised last year.
Mark Brooks from the ManKind Initiative insisted that male victims should be “supported in the same way that female victims rightly are”.
"The fact that in 2014 this is not the case shows the change that is still needed, especially as many men fear they won't be believed if they come forward,” he added.
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