How about you ask? Start by being polite.
"Oh, I haven't been introduced. So how are you two connected?"
You'll to have to step out of your comfort zone for this even if it is immediately obvious. And if it's normal, you've lost nothing.
"Oh, I haven't been introduced. So how are you two connected?"
You'll to have to step out of your comfort zone for this even if it is immediately obvious. And if it's normal, you've lost nothing.
Yeah, before you say it, "me feeling uncomfortable" is a pretty selfish excuse for not helping somebody that is feeling a hell of a lot more uncomfortable than I. I'm not going to make excuses for that. I'm just not going to start interrogating people in public about the nature of their relationships.
If the woman feels she has a sympathetic supporter, it is easier to defend herself and if the jerk thinks there is an eyewitness to his assholish behavior, he may tone it down without you needing to say something. I think saying something may be counterproductive (because when accused people are quick to justify, and that makes them LESS likely to back off, not more) but just being aware can sometimes help.
If I see something that seems off, I might try to enter the conversation. If I see something that really seems off, I might ask if both of them are okay. If it is more extreme than that, I am open to taking more extreme action.
What I'm not going to do is orbit the room interrogating people about their relationships without seeing any warning signals.
But if a woman's body language seems particularly bad, or you know your friend/acquaintance only just met this person? That seems like a good opportunity to speak up without "interrogating" people, as you put it.
Truth be told, it's more about friends who enable their friends' asshole behavior by looking the other way. Assholes cannot be 100% friendless, nor only friends with other assholes.
That seems reasonable to me. You make a good point about friends enabling assholes too.