What is the bystander effect? Did it play a role in a recent rape on a train?
We need to look out for others
Rape is the most morally and physically reprehensible crime in a society, as it is an assault on the body, mind and privacy of the victim. While a murderer destroys the physical frame of the victim, a rapist degrades and defiles the soul of a helpless female. Rape reduces a woman to an animal, as it shakes the very core of her life… violates the human rights of the victim,” An Indian Supreme Court bench remarked.
Rape debases a woman; rape limits her existence to a sexual object, an object that exists only for gratifying a man’s sexual desire: She doesn’t have emotion, she doesn’t feel anything, and she isn’t a human being. Rape goes beyond physical pain; it is an attack on the soul and mind.
Woman raped on a train
Rape in itself is an abhorrent crime, but what do you make out when a woman is raped on a train, and people do nothing to save her. I thought the community was a powerful force that guards the collective interest of its members. But people were mere spectators when a woman was raped on a train in the U.S.A. For those horrifying 8 minutes, no one intervened as if the rapist had cast a spell on the people present there, or at worst, people were callous towards that woman.
Those bystanders may not have raped the woman, but by failing to intervene, the bystanders let the woman be raped. The attacker was unarmed, and the bystanders outnumbered the lone attacker, so why didn’t the bystanders do anything.
Bystander effect
I am only left to the conclusion that they may have been overcome by the bystander effect. The bystander effect is a psychological phenomenon in which the presence of people around stops a person from helping the person who is in distress or being attacked. A person is more likely to help a person if there are few people or no one around.
The concept became well known after the murder of Kitty Genovese in New York City in 1964. Kitty’s neighbours failed to intervene when she was being attacked outside her home. Although initially it was reported that a dozen of her neighbours did nothing and later it was corrected to two neighbours not helping her, the incident underscored the role of the bystander effect.
The bystander effect can stem from a diffusion of responsibility, social influence and other reasons.
Diffusion of responsibility
Why me? Other people are watching a person being attacked. Why should I do something? They can do something about it.
Social influence
People observe other people’s behaviour around them before deciding to act. If people around them are not doing anything, they will prefer being a silent spectators rather than doing something about it.
Other reasons
People fail to intervene because they aren’t sure if they have understood the situation, or people are shocked or freeze when they see an attack unfolding before them. People don’t want to put themselves in harm’s way.
How can you not be a passive bystander?
Just saying, stop or police are coming may help the person. It usually acts as an awakening for others witnessing the act and emboldens them to get involved. But the person must do something to intervene. Don’t leave it on others. Usually, other people will support the person who calls out the attacker; all they need is a nudge.
Why you should Intervene?
But whether or not the bystander effect had affected the people, we shouldn’t forget that we may be at the receiving end tomorrow.
And if you ever think, why should I intervene? I don’t know the person. Think it through. What’s happening with the victim may happen to you or your family tomorrow? Tomorrow you may be at the receiving end, and you would want the people in the community to support you and not be a spectator. That’s how communities care for each other.
P.S. prosecutors doubt whether people watched the woman being raped. The circumstances under which the rape took place is unclear.
