Silent Scream: Perception of Violence and Willingness to Intervene

This study examines how individuals perceive and respond to different forms of gender-based violence (GBV) that may fall within the grey zone of behaviour. Drawing on feminist theory, theories of normalization processes, and bystander intervention models, we investigate how the characteristics of behaviours, the gender of victims and offenders, and contextual cues shape evaluations of GBV’s perceived societal acceptance, individual perceptions of normality, and willingness to intervene. Using a vignette-based survey experiment with 2,000 respondents in Italy, we find that violence perpetrated by men against women is generally evaluated more negatively than violence perpetrated by women against men, providing limited support for expectations derived from a feminist perspective. However, non-verbal violence, such as threatening looks and yanking, can amplify gender differences in perceptions, but victim’s perception and reaction do not moderate these. Similarly, respondents are more willing to intervene when the offender is a man and the victim is a woman. This is moderated by the victim's reaction, but not by the type of violence or the victim's perception. Findings also distinguish between perceived societal acceptance and individual perceptions of normality, showing that what individuals perceive as socially tolerated does not necessarily correspond to what they personally consider normal.