As I am writing this, I feel completely disgusted and, quite frankly, furious at the recent events concerning women’s safety that have been occurring around the world. The most recent one being, a woman getting raped on a train in Philadelphia, with other passengers just standing there and doing absolutely nothing to help. All whilst filming it on their smartphones for the eight minutes this atrocity ensued. One would think, that people should feel safer in public with others around, right?
This deeply disturbing event has brought many of us to the realisation that women are not safe anywhere, and that there is no guarantee that people would step in to help us in a crowded environment. After all, they say that it is better to shout ‘fire’ than to shout ‘help’ if needing to grab someone’s attention. Of course, it is understandable that not everyone would be comfortable physically stepping in and helping, especially when there is a possibility that the attacker is carrying a firearm or is armed in another way.
However, not even one person phoned the police while the assault was happening.
It has been reported, that both individuals have boarded the train in the same stop, and that the man has harassed the woman for over 40 minutes before raping her. While filming a crime being committed is helpful as evidence later, society oftentimes still seems not to know how to react in a helpful way during a stressful traumatic situation. Overall, it would be way more beneficial to the victim to stop the assault from happening in the first place, instead of just having video evidence in this instance.
This situation was a perfect example for the bystander effect: ‘The term bystander effect refers to the tendency for people to be inactive in high danger situations due to the presence of other bystanders. Thus, people tend to help more when alone than in a group.’ ~ Darley and Latané (1968)
It is also important to note that there are five stages in which a person will decide in whether to help or not:
1. Noticing the event: in this situation, it was clear that the passengers noticed the assault happening, since they were filming it.
2. Defining the event as an emergency: again, the filming of the harassment would indicate that the bystanders acknowledged the situation as an emergency.
3. Assuming personal responsibility: it is evident that none of the people around have taken responsibility so they can help the victim, therefore that is where the decision to help may have not been taken in the five-stage model.
4. Knowing how to provide appropriate help: it is also possible that some bystanders simply did not have the emotional capacity to act in a highly pressured and stressful situation like this, meaning they did not know what the best way would be to help in a timely manner. In situations like this, every second counts, and if someone has never dealt with an emergency incident before, they are less likely to provide adequate help quickly.
5. Acting on the decision.
It is, first and foremost, important to understand why a person might make a decision not to intervene, and in this case, it is highly possible that the passengers decided not to help because they did not feel it was only their responsibility to do so. Meaning, that the responsibility to help falls onto every person in the group becomes smaller the bigger the group of people is, as well as thinking that someone else will intervene and help. However, when everyone is thinking the same thoughts, nobody ends up helping the victim.
Another possible reason why the bystanders did not intervene is lack of experience in emergency situations, as well as lack of education on how to act in a situation like this. People have been raped for millennia, and it has become somewhat of a norm in our society. But, somehow, we are still not being educated on how to appropriately help one another if we find ourselves witnessing an atrocious act of sexual violence. If someone sees two people in a physical altercation, most of the time someone will intervene, or call someone who can help, yet if it is of sexual nature, the bystander effect appears to be more common. Therefore, our society needs better education and more awareness on how to appropriately act if they witness someone being sexually assaulted.
‘Individuals may decide not to intervene in critical situations if they are afraid of being superseded by a superior helper, offering unwanted assistance, or facing the legal consequences of offering inferior and possibly dangerous assistance.’ ~ Darley and Latané (1968)
Darley and Latané (1968) also mention further reasons why someone might decide not to help, which is fear of legal action against them, looking inadequate in front of other bystanders, or offering unwanted assistance. Unfortunately, some people will be more concerned about how they look in front of others than helping another person in need. It was evident that the bystanders on the train showed some level of concern by filming the incident, yet that was not enough for them to help.
What can we actually do to help in a situation like this, apart from phoning the police?
· Do not assume everyone else is going to help.
· Talk to the people around us: communication with one another is key, since providing collective help is more efficient and will result in a quicker resolution, as well as feeling safer.
· Have sympathy for the victim: this might come as a shock to some, but studies show that most people will feel fear at the first instance of witnessing an emergency situation. In order to help and act, we need to start feeling sympathy for the victim since that is what is going to drive our decision to act.
· Understand that people and situations are different and there is no one-size-fits-all solution: we need to realise that every emergency situation is going to be different and that not everyone in the group of bystanders will be willing or able to help. Therefore, it is important to understand our personal strengths, and to evaluate the situation as quickly as possible. It is important to note any dangers to personal safety before intervening in any situation, and unfortunately, sometimes the only way to help is to call the police.
While the event that happened is unbelievably distressing and concerning for many, we do hope that this has been a sobering wake up call for society to take more responsibility and to step in when witnessing another human being abused and suffer.
If you or anyone you know has suffered from sexual assault or rape, these are some services you can contact for support:
· The 24-hour freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247.
· the Rape Crisis national freephone helpline on 0808 802 9999 (12-2.30pm and 7-9.30pm every day of the year).
· Rape Crisis Scotland on 08088 01 03 02.
· a voluntary organisation, such as Women's Aid, Victim Support, The Survivors Trust or Survivors UK (for male victims of sexual assault).
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