1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in the UK will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime

Would you intervene if you saw saw domestic abuse right in front of you?

A social experiment carried out in Sweden has shockingly revealed only two per cent of people would speak out if they were witness to violence between a couple.

Organisation STHLM Panda use hidden cameras to explore human nature in broadcasts that are aired online. Their latest offering took place in an elevator.

The actors play out a domestic abuse scene, and the lady on the left is the only one of 53 to interrupt

Two 'couples' engage in a fierce argument that leads to the man in each scene placing his hands on the woman, pushing and shoving her to the wall.

Of 53 people who had shared the lift with the actors, only one person spoke out.

One woman stands with her shopping keeping herself to herself, keeping out of the incident, even when a slap is heard.

People play on their phones and generally seem apathetic to the terrible scene

Sweden has a high rate of harassment cases compared to the EU average

Another girl stands playing on her phone, a man with what looks like office documents observes the 'assault' and then exits the elevator despite hearing the assailant telling the girl that he will 'kill' her.

Thankfully someone finally speaks out, as a lady with a blue coat tells the man who has been pushing and shoving his partner that she will 'call the police' if he touches her again.

Her look of surprise is expected when she is told by the actors that it is a social experiment. Even more so when the man tells her that she is the only one of 53 people who spoke up.

'I can't believe people are not reacting,' says the girl in blue before making her exit.

The group plan to do a second broadcast on domestic abuse against a man and see whether the results are any different.

The man pushes and shoves the girl in the social experiment

Sweden continues to struggle with dealing with harassment. A report released this year revealed that 81 per cent of women said they had been harassed at some point after the age of 15 in the country, compared to the EU average of 55.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights published a report earlier this year entitled: ‘Violence against women: an EU-wide survey’, which listed Sweden as having the highest rate of sexual harassment experienced by women.'

Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Finland all saw rates above 70 percent. The EU member state with the lowest rate was Bulgaria, with 24 percent.

Earlier this year Police assessments from 33 of the 44 forces in England, Wales and Scotland obtained by the Guardian revealed that 10,952 people, mainly women, were categorised as being at high risk of facing a violent death in the home or of suffering severe violence, in the year to November.

DOMESTIC ABUSE IN THE UK - THE FACTS Will affect 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in their lifetime. Leads to, on average, two women being murdered each week and 30 men per year. Accounts for 16 per cent of all violent crime (Source: Crime in England and Wales 04/05 report), however it is still the violent crime least likely to be reported to the police. Has more repeat victims than any other crime (on average there will have been 35 assaults before a victim calls the police). Is the single most quoted reason for becoming homeless (Shelter, 2002). In 2010 the Forced Marriage Unit responded to 1735 reports of possible Forced Marriages. From Living Without Abuse (LWA) Advertisement

Two women a week die from domestic abuse in England and Wales, with many more suffering long-lasting mental and emotional harm.

In 2012/13, there were 1.2 million female and 700,000 male victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales. Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales suggests that 30 per cent of women and 16.3 per cent of men in England and Wales will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.

In August this year the Home Secretary, Theresa May, launched an eight-week consultation on strengthening current laws on domestic violence. A main focus was whether coercive and controlling behaviour in intimate relationships should be a specific offence.

And just days ago, Public Health England launched two initiatives to help deal with domestic violence for universities and businesses.

The The bystander ‘Intervention Initiative’ was done in conjunction with the University of West of England to encourage students to stand up against abuse.

Intervention Initiative development lead, Dr. Rachel Fenton from the University of West of England said: 'The Intervention Initiative works by educating students to recognise and understand sexual and domestic violence and take active steps when they witness problematic behaviour.

'It takes a positive approach, encouraging all students to be active bystanders, standing up against any form of violence or abuse in their community.The eight-week programme teaches students the necessary communication and leadership skills to intervene effectively and safely, and to change the social norm, making problematic violent behaviour socially unacceptable.'

And the same type of programme is being introduced in the workplace; toolkits for both the projects will be available online through the government department.

Professor Kevin Fenton, director of Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England, said: 'It is unacceptable that in England and Wales, two women a week die as a result of domestic violence, and many more suffer physical and mental harm.

'Workplaces are a safe space for many people living in violence and are key for providing opportunities for disclosure and support into safety.

'As it stands, companies can do more to support their employees who experience domestic abuse, train those who witness, and protect staff as a whole.'

You can watch the extended version here of the domestic abuse experiment here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1-A7R15uYU

Follow STHLM Panda on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/sthlmpanda, on Twitter @STHLMPanda and their broadcasts are on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/user/sthlmpanda.

The bystander ‘Intervention Initiative’ by Public Health England can be found here: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/bl/research/interventioninitiative/thetoolkit.aspx, and the workplace toolkit is called the ‘Violence Toolkit for Businesses’, which is here: http://16daysofaction.co.uk/