In the news: According to various reports, including an article published by The Charlotte Observer on Feb. 17, a woman was allegedly kidnapped at knife point and raped in Rock Hill, South Carolina. While she was being assaulted, bystanders stood by and watched.
Last month, The New York Times reported that four teens took turns raping an 18-year-old woman in Brooklyn at gunpoint. The young woman was with her father but was ordered to leave. In this case, it was unclear whether or not bystanders were present but it took nearly 20 minutes for the father to locate police officers.
If you find yourself in the role of a bystander and you’re not sure how or when to respond, at the very least, consider doing these three things:
1) Become familiar with the reasons why some people don’t get involved. One such reason is fear-the fear of being harmed as a result of getting involved or “telling.” Another is what psychologists and similar professions call diffusion of responsibility. For more on diffusion of responsibility, click here.
2) Recognize that there are typically two choices to make in the moment: Do something or do nothing.
3) Learn ways to safely intervene; learn how to do something. For bystander intervention strategies, research and more visit the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s (NSVRC’s) page on “Bystander Intervention: Online Learning Opportunities.”
Related:
© CJ Spencer, 2016
I had read about the bystander effect in psychology class and have experienced such apathy when girls around the city are eve teased and so on , but these are extreme cases . Shocking !
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Thanks for commenting. I agree, they are shocking…
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Thank you for posting this. So many people don’t want to “get involved.” I think there’s a quote for this – all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
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Thanks for the feedback! I think it helps to know there are different ways to get involved. Love the quote, cj 🙂
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Seems like a person could at least call the cops.
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It saddens me. Many people have the “dont get invovled” mentality.
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