Woman being talked to in abusive way, would you do anything?

[LemonGraber]

I know it's too late now but I've just witnessed a woman being talked to by her husband in a really abusive way.

I'm still shaking it was that bad.

I won't say the specifics but it involved insults and threats to her and her child/children.

There was another woman with children who also was in earshot but I could see she was uncomfortable and I'm guessing didn't get involved as she had children with her.

I was genuinely expecting him to be physically violent there and then but he wasn't.

Would you have said or done anything to help her? If so what?

I was sat in my car and several times went to open the door to ask if she was ok but I was too afraid of her husband.

I feel so bad for not helping. I hate to think how he acts at home.

Do you k ow who they are?

Could you have called the Police?

I have no idea who they are. I just froze at the time. I was very cowardly and now feel I should have done something.

In my head I would intervene but realistically I probably wouldn't as I have personally witnessed the woman victim turning on helpful bystanders in these situations.

If you know who they are or can get a reg plate I would maybe report to the police.

I think i would have tried to call the police without him realising and tried to get the car reg.

I actually think you shouldn’t overtly intervene in cases like this - if you do then the man could have taken it out on the woman later for “showing him up” or something. Intervening would have made you feel better but could have made things 100x worse for the poor woman.

It’s awful but short of trying to subtly direct her to Women’s Aid or reporting the registration to 101 there isn’t really a great deal you can do with these public situations

I actually think you shouldn’t overtly intervene in cases like this - if you do then the man could have taken it out on the woman later for “showing him up” or something.

This. I’d always be worried about them taking it out on them worse when there’s no witnesses

No. It's likely you'd get a mouthful off the woman for your troubles. That happened to me. She threatened to kick the shit out of me. Never again.

You'd also put yourself at risk from the man.

I would call the police if I was afraid for her but no way would I risk my own safety.

No I would not say something. I would call the police if I feared for her safety, if it was safe to do so.

This is hard. In a sort of similar situation once in a supermarket where a father verbally abused his son in front of his mother and other children, I took a car registration and reported on a police non emergency line. I don't know what came of it obviously, but it was the only thing I could do. Still unsure really if it was the right thing to have done.

Man next door was shouting at his partner, swearing, really beyond an argument, she was screaming, kids were screaming and crying, everyone sounded scared and distraught. I called the police and heard him lie to them and she backed him up. Luckily not long after she kicked him out anyway. I dont know what I'd do if I came face to face with behaviour like that in public.

If I had time to react I'd probably try and record it covertly and then report to the police - get a registration number if possible, if not a clear image of those involved

I did worry that she might get funny with me if I said anything. It's sad that she was just taking it all. She barely argued back and just answered him when he asked something.