Meet Moe and Etayyim, two hidden camera YouTube pranksters named OckTV whose normal remit includes general YouTube lols such as serenading strangers with Snoop Dogg songs and pulling up mens' sagging trousers; all caught on camera for general lighthearted hilarity. Their newest video, though, was something a bit different. Together with actress Yo Ying the guys decided to find out what the reaction would be from the public when they were presented with domestic violence, right in front of their faces.
In the first few clips, Etayyim – pretending to be Yo’s boyfriend, walks through a crowded area with her, verbally abusing her before pushing, shoving and even slapping her. Even if you know it's fake, it's still a pretty tough watch. As one would hope, passers by go ballistic. Women trip over fences in their rush to intervene, crowds descend on the guy to verbally chastise him for his actions, one guy even pushes Etayyim against the wall before rushing to check that Yo is OK. Obviously this result isn't a win for anyone involved – the fact that people recognise the behaviour is depressing enough, but the amount of people that intervene is at least marginally reassuring that people understand this depressingly familiar situation as dangerous, wrong and that Yo is in need of help.
READ MORE: The Comments On This Domestic Violence Video Show Why We Need To Keep Talking About It
In the next few scenes however, the roles are reversed. Now Yo becomes the abuser – slapping, hitting and verbally abusing Moe, even slamming his head against a window. Compared to the previous scenes, though, the publics' reaction couldn't be more different. Not one person intervenes, even when Moe's head hits the glass. Even worse, people actually point at the abuse, and *laugh. One *guy starts filming and another even – get this – JOINS IN. Fan-fucking-tastic.
The comments below the video don't offer much hope that this attitude isn't the norm. ‘Abdu Ugas’ misses the point spectacularly saying: ‘I understand that no one will care if the guy is getting abused, because he isn't really going to get hurt by a women so its not really a problem. I mean it's not like all women are mma fighters.’ Meanwhile ‘DeMarDeRozan’ interjects helpfully with: ‘The reason no one helped the guy is because we all know he could have fucked her up if he wanted.’ Thanks DeMar, because responding to violence with more violence is always the answer.
The video ends with the message ‘Men are embarrassed to admit and openly tell someone else that he is the victim of abuse at the hands of his female partner so if you see something, say something’ and whilst we can't help but feel like the overall message of this video – whether intended or not – might slightly detract from the gravity of abuse directed at women due to the direct comparison of the two, the OckTV guys have managed to prove a point about how seriously (or not) we take the issue of domestic violence against men. Here's hoping this opens the debate further.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.