Associations Between Sexual Objectification and Bystander Efficacy: The Mediating Role of Barriers to Bystander Intervention.

This study examined whether sexual objectification (i.e., reducing someone to a sex object via a disproportionate focus on appearance and sexual characteristics) was associated with decreased confidence in future bystander intervention to reduce the risk for sexual violence (i.

Sexual objectification: The common thread connecting myriad forms of sexual violence against women.

In this article, the authors focus on the linkages between objectification and current societal manifestations of sexual violence toward women to make the case that everyday instances of objectification can provide the foundation for more extreme forms of violence. First, they formally introduce the notion of objectification and explain its origins and its consequences in those who perpetrate and those who experience it. Next, they use objectification as a lens through which to consider several related, but distinct, societal problems, including: sexual assault of college women, harassment of women in work settings, and sex trafficking of women in the United States and around the world.