Safety Tips for Women:
BYSTANDER APATHY
&
BYSTANDER EFFECT

A Boston doctor was recently attacked by a knife-wielding patient. Around the same time, a 15 year-old girl in California was gang-raped by four young men. Both crimes were witnessed by multiple bystanders. Their responses could not have been more different. ... An off-duty security guard immediately got involved in the Boston case. He shot the assailant and saved the doctor’s life. In California, as many as 20 bystanders did absolutely nothing to help for more than two hours as one guy after the next brutalized the girl. Instead, they used cell phones to take pictures and video of the crime. ... Experts have yet to explain such disparate reactions. Some say bystanders do nothing simply because they’re afraid. Others say the hero urge makes onlookers extra eager to jump in. ... Maybe it’s the lack of uniformity in legal ramifications for acting vs. non-acting that explains why people have such extreme responses at both ends of the spectrum. ... I’m not saying people should take a bullet in gang crossfire. Only that they should call police when they see a serious crime in action. Hardly insulting to liberty, it better ensures freedom for law-abiding citizens who otherwise hide in their homes, fearful of the thugs and “no-snitch” bullies who command a code of silence to preserve THEIR freedom.
Excerpted from The Wakefield Observer (Beverly MA) – 21 November 2009 - by Attorney Wendy Murphy

QUESTION: How would YOU avoid Bystander Apathy when YOU desperately need help?

Think about it before you scroll down to find the answers below...
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ANSWERS:

The two incidents described above involved many co-variables. Primarily, in Massachusetts it was a security guard; in California it was drunken kids. And yes, the bystander apathy of those kids, though drunken, should be penalized somehow – perhaps with misdemeanor “gross indifference to human compassion” or some such charge. At least they’d be publicly named and shamed.

Then there’s the pervasive nationwide dilemma of “the thugs and ‘no-snitch’ bullies who command a code of silence to preserve THEIR freedom.” The law requires that witnesses be named in court documents (so defendants can face their accusers). The accused gangsters’ cohorts can then easily intimidate the witnesses (and their families) into silence. Witness protection programs do little to alleviate bystander apathy.

But there’s also a new twist on the nationwide CrimeStoppers tip program that just might help with the “no-snitch” bystander apathy problem. Boston heavily promotes cellphone texting for crime tips. Since the program began two years ago, police have received more than 1,000 tips.

But all that is after the fact and doesn't do diddly when you're up to your eyeballs in trouble. Learn how to avoid Bystander Apathy (a.k.a. the Kitty Genovese Syndrome) when YOU desperately need help:

See Kitty Genovese - Article Bank. Also see Newsletter-24-Mar-09 - Bystander Effect and Outdoor Safety - Rescuing a Victim Safely.

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