38 Witnesses Did Nothing? Bystander Effect and the Murder of Kitty Genovese | True Crime 

Have you ever been caught in a Bystander Effect situation?

About a year ago I heard a woman shouting loudly in the middle of the night. I sounded like she was having a heated argument with someone. I went outside to see if she needed help. She declined, police was already on the way she said. I watched from afar until I saw police arriving. My husband slept through all of this lol. Better to offer help when it's not needed than find out later someone needed help and you didn't respond. I would forever regret that.

I've experienced bystander effect. Many moons ago, as a teen, I saw a guy stagger across the road then collapse. I ran over, he had glass and blood in his hair, I checked he was breathing, put him in recovery position (my dad, a nurse, taught me first aid), and repeatedly asked onlookers to call an ambulance. An older guy insisted someone would've called and told me he's just drunk and leave him to sleep it off. I was literally screaming at a group of 5/6 adults to call an ambulance, no idea how many times I repeated this (but got a sore throat from it!). A woman came over and asked if I needed help, I shouted CALL AN AMBULANCE! She, thankfully, ran off and called (this was before mobile phones), returned telling me so, then told the older guy off because he was complaining about me making a fuss and having no respect for 'my elders'.

The New York Times article about this murder was hugely influential when it was published. The story was spread nationwide and immediately became seen as a symptom of the supposed "sick society" that America had become. Not only do I remember it very well, but the discussion of it continued for years afterwards. I was quite surprised when it was debunked in the 21st century.

I’ve been incredibly lucky. I live with epilepsy, and so many people have helped me. But, I had one woman kick me, because she thought I was a “druggy” and my children were right there. Someone else, I remember, stopped her, and shouted at her. I couldn’t do anything as after a seizure, I can’t move much, or talk for a while. My poor kids were terrified. They were only little. I don’t have many seizures now, and back then, I didn’t have them weekly. I feel awful that it happened in front of my kids.

I can fully attest to the Bystander Effect from personal experience. When I was in college, I worked at a store in the shopping district a bit over a mile from my home. I was less than a block away from our house when a man drove up behind me and pulled my purse from my shoulder. I didn’t immediately let go and he dragged me the length of almost two neighbors’ yards. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I ran for home. I was hysterical when I got to the door and obviously couldn’t unlock the door because everything was in my purse. It was a couple of weeks later that in talking to some of the neighbors, several of them mentioned to my mom that they thought they’d heard screaming one night, but when it stopped, they figured it must have been nothing. Mom informed them that I had been, in fact, screaming that I’d been attacked and robbed. They all, to the last, apologized profusely to her saying that if they’d known it was me, they would have called for help. If they’d *known* it was me?! So they wouldn’t have called to help a stranger, but they would have for the young lady a few doors down? While I genuinely liked our neighbors on that street, I was really hurt to find out that they had in fact heard my screaming and crying and still did nothing. What if I’d been stabbed like Kitty G.? Since it was close to 10PM, how long would I have laid in our street? It wasn’t a main thoroughfare being only 2 blocks long. I should also mention that this was in the mid-80s, many years before cellphones were ubiquitous.

My sister was a victim of the bystander effect. In middle school, when she was around 12 or 13 years old, a mentally unstable boy who did not like her and seeked "revenge", came up behind her as she was coming out of the girls bathroom and grabbed a hold of her hair. He held scissors up to her neck and threatened that he was going to cut off all of her hair and hurt her. In that moment several students began to stop and surround them. They just stood there and did nothing! Some students were even laughing at the situation. They stood and just watched as my sister panicked and tried to get away from this boy. Finally a teacher who was walking by, came upon the scene and stopped the boy. He was expelled from the school and not allowed anywhere near my sister. To this day it shocks me that not one student called for help.

I live on a main road and regularly hear shouting and screaming. I always check. One time I saw a young woman screaming and running so I went out in my sodding pajamas to find her. I found her trying to flag down random cars. I got her back to my house while she waited for her parents to come get her. Turns out she was just very drunk and had argued with friends, but doesn't bare thinking about if she'd flagged down the wrong persons car and got in. Another time we heard arguing then shortly after feeble help me shouts. Went out and found a woman lying on the floor clearly in pain and a bloke with her who was too drunk to even tell us her name. My husband helped try and keep her calm and I called an ambulance as the idiot she was with couldn't even dial 999 he was so drunk. Found out later she'd broke her hip and no idea how long she'd been lying there as it was pure chance that we heard her. The worst one was a teenager who got hit by a car while he was on his motorbike. Again in my pajamas went running out, but luckily there had been an ambulance already there attending another call on the street so paramedics were already with him by the time I'd got there. I didnt hang around once I realised professionals were already there so I left them to it. He sadly died. I may not be much help but I couldn't live with myself if something happened and I could have helped or prevented a situation getting worse.

There's a man here in Australia named Dean Webber who opened his door when a frantic woman was banging on it begging for help at night, he let her in and she hid while he called police. Then two men ripped a door off it's hinges, barged in and attacked them. Dean ended up grabbing a knife and stabbing them to defend himself and they both died. This happened in 2018 and to this day he is STILL being dragged to and from court desperately trying to save himself from being sent to prison for life for murder. The woman? Oh she moved on with her life like nothing happened. So yeah I get why people didn't come rushing out to put their own lives in danger to protect a complete stranger, I absolutely get it. Our court system will punish you for defending yourself and others from attackers.

This story brought back a memory I had put in the back of my mind. When I was 21 I lived in New Orleans,, and one night a friend and I were taking a drive and came across a woman and her child being harassed by a man who had pulled them over claiming to be the police. He was threatening them, and had pulled the child out of the car and was threatening to take him to jail. I pulled up to the stop sign and saw what was happening. There were three other cars pulled over on the side of the street watching the scene, but no one was trying to help. One lady in a car said exactly what the person in this story said, "You don't want to get involved." But me being young and naive didn't listen. This was back in the 80's when there were no cell phones. I drove past the scene and slowed down, and as I did the woman who was being harassed begged me to call the police. The man who was harassing her came to my car and threatened to take me to jail to. I could tell he was not right in the head. So my friend and I pulled up to a pay phone on the corner and called the police since no one else would. When the cops came they threw him up against the car and arrested him. I was so relieved. It was an eye opener because I am from a small town outside of New Orleans where you automatically help some one in need. The funny thing is, we drove down that street because we took a wrong turn and were trying to turn around. I like to think we helped prevent a serious tragedy that night thanks to my small town upbringing. I wonder whatever happened to those people.

Years ago my neighbour, a single mother, was crying and screaming. I poked my head out the door but no other neighbour did. Though I only heard her voice, in fact her ex-husband was silently beating her. Their child was remarkably silent possibly because she was drugged. I rang the police straight away and they came round within 5 minutes. The male officer carted off the man in handcuffs whilst the female officer consoled and comforted the woman and her daughter and drove off with them. The woman only returned to collect her things and the flat was vacant for quite some time afterwards

I highly recommend the Kitty Genovese episode of “A Crime To Remember”. It’s very informative but also extremely compassionate to her story. Very touching. And does a good job of debunking the story as it was covered in the media.

I remember when I was going to college one of my professors, who was a police chief, talked about this to us and said(and I paraphrased) "just because someone might do something doesn't mean they will. Always call when someone is in trouble because you might be their saving grace"

Years ago, I was leaving our small city hospital with my two elderly aunts when a man was pushed out of a car that kept going. He looked to be drunk until on closer inspection, with my aunts yelling at me to get away, I saw that he had blood all over his mid section. I ran back into the Emergency Room and thankfully got the attention of a couple of nurses. One male, one female ran behind me back outside. One confirmed he was bleeding profusely and the knife was still in him! Sending her partner back in for a gurney, when it came, I helped get the injured man on it, all the while people are walking around as if for a pleasant stroll, while my aunts are still telling me I was putting my life in danger to help a drunk or druggie. I don't know what happened to the man, the small write up in the paper the next day only stated he'd been found in front of the hospital and apparently he was in stable condition. Better I die in helping my fellow man, then leave him bleeding to death on a city sidewalk crying out for help.

I recently took a CPR course and the instructor asked "what's a reason someone might not help someone in need?" The obvious were mentioned like they didn't want to do more harm, then I mentioned the bystander effect. The instructor straight up said "that's not real, someone will always help." 🙄

Anne Zielonko was Kitty’s partner, not just her friend. Their relationship is referenced in the 2015 documentary The Witness. She was devastated after Kitty’s murder and was not able to openly grieve due to the presumption that she and Kitty were just “friends,” despite being in a significant relationship. It’s a good documentary and an important part of Kitty’s story.

i’m currently taking a first aid training class in college right now to be prepared for situations where the bystander effect would be common. the fact that someone would turn away rather than help someone screaming for it breaks my heart

I was living In a duplex and the couple next door were fighting, which I pretty much tried to ignore. The next night it happened again, but that time it sounded different. I struggled with what to do, and ended up calling the cops.They came and stopped the fighting, and to my surprise the young woman ran out the apartment. The next day she came by with her dad and grabbed her stuff. Before she left she came over and thanked me for saving her life. The guy she was with was strangling her. To this day, maybe 10or more years later whenever I think about that I think if I hadn't done what I did I would have to live with guilt.

My motto is: if you see or hear it happen, then it's your business. ALWAYS HELP.

When I've stepped in, it's actually other bystanders who curse at me, telling me to mind my own business. Human beings in general are a disgusting lot. People actually want to stand by and watch the person suffer.

i went through a lot of abuse as a kid and saw people turn a blind eye many times. i told myself i wouldn't be one of those people. so when i hear trouble, i act. however, sometimes taking action does nothing. i reported child abuse happening at my neighbors, the cops dismissed it. the manager of the complex dismissed it. i wrote to the bureau and never heard back. i tried to report it in any way i could but nothing was ever done. it's sad that "protect and serve" isn't always the goal. and that people would rather be cruel and judgemental of me for reporting it than actually looking into it.

I used to live close by to where Kitty Genovese lived. It's hard to believe such a heinous crime occurred there and in that time period. May God rest her soul in everlasting peace. ❤️

Bystander effect is exceedingly real. I was once homeless in Baltimore near Fells Point. One busy weekend night in Fells a car hit a woman. The car stoped and three guys grabbed a package from the trunk,then fled the area on foot. A crowd along the street numbered in the hundreds formed a circle around the girl who lay badly injured mid road. She flopped and kept trying and failing to stand. Hundreds just stared and stared. I ran over too her (, looking very much the homeless bum) and kept her still and held her hand, telling her she'd be fine, until the ambulance arrived. It was sad and baffling.

I was shopping with my sister once (I was about 10 and she was 14) and we saw this little kid just standing in the middle of the mall and crying and people were just walking by like everything was good. We stopped and checked on him and I stood there with him while my sis grabbed the attention of a person working in one of the stores. Fortunately, his Mom showed up with his two siblings shortly after and the employee didn’t even have to make an announcement. He’d just wandered off and then I guess couldn’t remember where he’d left his Mom.

Okay. So I've just binge-watched/listened to about 20 of these while cleaning the house. Keep 'em coming!

Actually, there's a difference between "good Samaritan laws" and "duty to rescue", and you mean the latter. 2, is when a person can be prosecuted for failing to come to the aid of somebody in mortal danger. 1, exempts the helper from legal responsibility for injury caused in the course of an attempt to help in good faith. For example, if you attempt to resuscitate someone and they die, people can not seek to blame and sue or prosecute you for wrongful death, as your good intent to help someone even at a risk to yourself is beyond doubt.

My friend was attacked with a Stanley knife and staggering to the flats in Central Milton Keynes UK where she lived no one would open their doors to help her. She had to wait completely on her own late at night for the ambulance as no one wanted to get involved.

I once was walking home from my local pub and as I passed our local Indian restaurant, who I was very friendly with the owner. I heard shouting coming from inside. I looked through the window and saw 2 men punching and kicking the owner, while the other staff seemed to be in a panic. I went in and pulled the men off my friend and the staff called the police. Not that I expected it but every time I went in for a meal they never charged me. I just did it because I didn't like to see anyone being out numbered. Love the videos. Many thanks William Long.

This is actually a myth. The story about how almost 40 people heard, and Kitty's murder, and did nothing was based on a newspaper article that was mostly false. Here's what actually happened: She was attacked in an apartment courtyard at 3 a.m. in the winter, so there were very few open windows, and nearly everyone was asleep. Kitty had a punctured lung, therefore UNABLE to scream for help. Someone opened a window and yelled at the attacker, which initially scared him off. Kitty then limped to a hallway, but the attacker came back and stabbed and raped her in the out-of-the-way hallway. There were NO witnesses. Two people DID call the police, and a neighbor found a dying Genovese and held her until the ambulance came. The man who said he "didn't want to get involved" asked his neighbor to make the call, and the neighbor did.

It happened to me 3 times I saw a man beating up a woman and I intervened, well both of them started to attack me, I don’t know some people are just the way they are.

I would never leave a woman's cry unheard. By that I mean that I would always at least see what was happening. As a human being. I heard a neighbour screaming once. My next-door neighbour and I want to see what was happening. Her then husband was beating her and threatening her kids. Yes I went with another person, but I went. I saw someone breaking into my partners car and shouted louder than I thought I could. But six of them fled. I even went to the car with a wooden pole 😂. Basically. I very much understand the bystander effect. But. If it were you needing help, or your daughter or son. You would not like to hear that someone could have prevented the extent of the outcome yet did nothing.

That man lived too long, I strongly believe in the death sentence in cases where there is strong evidence.

And the psychologists hurried to classify it as a syndrom instead of an act of cowardice.

The bystander effect happened two times to my mother. Once, when her purse was stolen in the metro and she asked others to help her catch the thief (a young girl) and once when she followed someone who had broken into her shop. She followed the man, held him and screamed for help and someone to call the police, but no one helped her, so she had to let go of him.

Not surprised in my experience-I was at a bus stop with around 30people at 5pm when a guy ran up & started hitting a 13yr old. I was the only one who intervened&pulled him off the boy, distracting him as I yelled for his friend to take him in a shop&call his parents to get him. Not a person helped-including loads of big guys, when we got on the bus someone told the driver who refused him, he left after punching the window next to me saying he would 'get' me. 2 men in the bus actually said 'just as well the bus came as I was gonna have him'....all 5ft of me sitting there shaking. The boys crime? Spitting a bit of chocolate onto the ground as he didn't like it...would do it again in a heartbeat.

Two things not often mentioned when discussing this incident: 1) The "38 witnesses" figure has never been corroborated, nor traced to any specific, verified source. In fact, it later turned out that the writer of the NYT article essentially made up that figure out of thin air, because it made for a better story. 2) The primary reason (and most-salient point of all) why none of the neighbours called the police, is because in that particular neighbourhood, loud screams (and fights, domestic disturbances and so forth) were quite common and heard so frequently that people just became used to it. Moreover, whenever police _were_ called out to previous incidents involving loud screams, it almost-always turned out to be a domestic dispute of some kind, in which both parties would often refuse to speak to police once they arrived. More than that, what often happened (and what often happens even to-day) is both parties would even go so far as to turn against the police officers. Eventually over time, it was less a 'bystander effect situation' and more of a (for lack of a better term) 'boy who cried wolf' situation. When screams were heard, the neighbours simply assumed, by reason of past experiences, that it was yet-another case of a woman fighting with her boyfriend or her husband or something, and that if they _did_ call the cops, then _they'd_ end up being hassled by all parties concerned afterward (which had _also_ often happened in the past.)

52 years in prison, costing taxpayer dollars, instead of being blood eagled like he deserved for being a sick bastard. And as for the apathy, that really still happens. People whip out their phones instead of helping.

Don't screem for help, scream 'FIRE'. It has proven to attrack the attention of people, because of the danger they might be facing themselves and the sensation of looking at a fire.

I'm happy to report that I haven't been caught in a bystander effect situation. In the few situations I've witnessed throughout my life, I've always jumped to offer assistance and call the police. Just a few weeks ago, three individuals rammed a car into the shop on the ground level of our apartment building. It's a small building, with only six apartments, and we all jumped into action: my husband sounded the alarm, I called the police, and two men ran down to face the burglars. Another time, many years ago, I was driving in the freeway when I witnessed a really bad accident several cars in front of me. It's always better to offer assistance/call the police, etc., than to stand by or leave and expect others to do it.

When I was about 12 years old, I went to my grandmothers to give her something and wore my roller skates to speed up the journey. On the way back I was seen and attacked by a 15 year old school bully for no reason at all. She grabbed my hair and knocked me to the ground, pulling my hair and slapping me. Because of my roller skates I couldn’t get up and get away. A woman passed right by and never said a word or did anything to help me. That hurt me more than what the bully did to me. I have never forgotten it and consequently I have always gone to peoples aid regardless of danger.

I've been in two bystander scenarios. One where I wrote it off and didn't do anything... One where I stepped in. They both haunt me in different ways. The first was when I was a young teen, at around 730am I was just heading to bed (thanks, insomnia) and heard a strange scream. I honestly couldn't tell what it was at the time, only that it was person. In my tiredness I decided it must've been someone fighting to get their kids up for school. When I woke up late that day I found my whole street was for cordoned off while the police investigated a gruesome murder of a woman. When I read the details later on the news, I realized that what I heard was her screaming. The second time was a few years later, I was at a crowded bus stop and a man was laying on the grass and appeared to be sleeping. I asked a few others there if they'd seen how long he'd been there, or if they would help him (I was still a teen, just not as young as before). I got told off by a few of them for being nosy and that he was "probably just drunk,". When the bus pulled up I nearly got on it, but at the last moment something struck me and I went to the man and asked directly if he was ok. All he could get out was the word "help" so I called 911. He couldn't even stand without the paramedics help, I never found out if he was okay after that. I hope he was.

The Bystander Effect is one of the reasons my sisters and I were taught to yell "Fire!" instead of "Help!" if we ever find ourselves being stalked and/or attacked...the idea is that bystanders will respond immediately to the perceived threat of a fire since each person will be concerned about ensuring his or her own personal safety. My sisters and I were also taught the "Golden Rule" when it comes to helping others...we always call the police if we see or hear another person in distress and we try to render aid in those situations in which it is feasible to do so. Case in point: my husband and I once stopped to help immediately after a head-on, 2-vehicle collision (caused by a drunk driver who'd been driving his pickup truck the wrong way on an interstate) had occurred. There were at least 2 other people who also stopped to help, but all of the other drivers passing by were just slowing down to gawk at the accident scene. A mother and her 3 children (all of whom had been wearing their seatbelts) had been in the car hit by the truck; the mother and 2 of her children were able to get out of their car on their own, but her third child was still trapped in the heavily damaged, inaccessible backseat. As we waited for the police and paramedics to arrive, my husband consoled the mother (and kept her from looking into her car) while I applied direct pressure to a large, bleeding cut that one of her children had sustained to his forehead. (The drunk driver was trapped - evidently deceased - inside the crushed cab of his truck, which had landed upside-down and "pancaked" after the collision.)

I've heard screaming in the night a few times now, and each time I looked out the window and either saw nothing, or a bunch of teens who didn't really care that it was already past midnight... I've also shouted at teens like that before, because no one else makes them shut up, and the only thing I care about more than being polite, is the night being quiet.

Just last month there was a brutal rape of a young woman on a commuter train in Philadelphia that was witnessed by dozens of people. No one did a damn thing to stop the crime! It was just pure callousness by the witnesses.

Leaving a comment to feed the RU-vid algorithm! I love your intriguing stories good Sir, and the way you present them! Your channel deserves so much more exposure and I'm trying to give it a boost however I can :)

I once was attacked by a drunken guy in one of the busiest streets in my town in the middle of the day. No one, really no one, looked at me while he was kicking and cussing at me. I am happy that I had training for those situations when I was little so I called out a guy with something like: "You in the red jacket, please help me!" And then he HAD to do something... I was stunned how no one wanted to help... Since then I tell me I won't look away if I see someone in a similar situation... Always remembering if I don't help them, maybe no one will...

A few months back, while at work in a retail store, a guy I didn't know attacked me. I have no idea what would have happened if my coworkers and even some strangers hadn't jumped in to protect me. The notion that this could have gone the other way and I could have been severely injuried or worse in a store full of people is terrifying. Always intervene, people!

It's not surprising that Kitty's marriage was annulled because she was actually a lesbian, whose "roommate" was actually her lover.

I have always purposefully thought about this when something happens around me. I’ve called the cops when I heard my neighbors were having a huge fight. Turns out I called at the right time and the boyfriend threw my neighbor out the door directing into the officer’s chest. Another time is when I was house hunting an 8 year old girl was wandering the streets, taking off pieces of her clothing as she was walking through different yards. I called the cops and waited with my eyes on her until an officer arrived. I never want to say, “I should have” and then find out something terrible happened later.

I was hit by a car as a pedestrian and thank goodness there was a witness who called emergency services for me. I will always try to be the same if I see something like that.

I have called the police before when I heard someone screaming in the night. I couldn't tell if it was a scream of joy or a fear scream, so I though it was better safe than sorry and called the police.

I would like to think that I'd be the one to take action in a situation like this (as I am in most situations where someone might need help), but outside the giant apartment complex I live in, you can hear children/teens screaming and yelling every evening... I've often thought "If there was ever a kid actually being abducted or assaulted I wouldn't even know."

This is outrageous! I watched another doc on this in which the brother was interviewed! The problem came in from people afraid to inconvenience in getting involved!

So sad can you imagine someone leaving then coming back for you how frightening.

A few years ago an elderly man collapsed in the lobby of a bank before an atm at a Sunday or in the evening when the bank was closed. Several people stepped over him to get to the atm later claiming they thought he was homeless (security cameras tracked some of them down). No one checked on him. He layed there for hours and died in hospital. Awful.

i have found 3 toddlers in my adult life wandering in a crowd of people, picked them up and of course found the frantic parent running around or used a service desk to call. everyone just didnt do anything i guess thinking the toddler was with a nearby adult. generally, people are in fact average or below average intelligence.

We did this in psychology at school and we were truly shocked by the case

Where I live, it’s hard to know if people are partying or someone is being murdered, it all sounds the same, unfortunately. People party quite loudly.

I've seen by standardser effect....years ago I was at a party and I was leaving with my best friend and we walked up the road to see a crowd of people surrounding someone laying in the grass on the side of the road....we recognized him it was our friend Nathaniel and my best friend and I ran up to him and fell to our knees and lifted his upper body up and saw that someone had smashed him in the head with a glass bottle...he survived and everything but I'll never forget kneeling their with my best friend and his body is propped up in my lap and he's bleeding on my green sweater and I'm looking back at the crowd like are you going to do anything? they weren't filming cause this was in like 2009 I think but I remem wr it so vividly cause I thought he was gunna die...

I was born in the mid-60s, a Chicagolander. The story of Kitty was a topic growing up, even there, My better half heard her story too, so when I'm the idiot who goes out when trouble is heard she understands...and she backs me up. I love life, but I couldn't if I just sat back when others were in need. It may seem primitive, but that's the way I'm wired.

This is why I carry a tazer gun and mace all the time. I'm ready.

My mother told me once that an aunt of hers ( sister of my grandfather) fell on the street somewhere in New York and nobody helped her and just stepped over her, as if she wasn't there, invisible.....

I recall in my psych class when we covered this case, some responding officers, when going around to speak with witnesses, noted that neighbors had moved furniture under windows so they could look out and see what was happening, makes it even more frustrating

Even if someone is "simply drunk or a druggie" they could still need help. No one has the right to decide who should live or die. Everyone has the right to receive help. If it puts you in danger, I understand not helping. But if you have the means to safely get help, do it. Because you never know what that person's story is. And just because someone is a drunk or drug addict doesn't mean they're a bad person- many times addicts have mental health issues and need help and getting professional help to them could make them possibly start working on getting better. Maybe it won't, but would you rather condemn an innocent person to death just because you weren't sure? If it won't endanger me, I want to help where I can. Because fact is, YOU NEVER KNOW.

Never heard of this before! Love this channel. ❤

If I heard someone scream for help, I'd definitely call the police. This case is a tragic one, hopefully many people learned from it. There's something about Kew Gardens, Queens...especially at that time. This incident happened in March, 1964 and about a year later, in July 1965, the case of Alice Crimmins. Her 2 kids were taken from the apartment where they lived and we're found deceased several days later. Alice Crimmins spent time in prison for the crime.

I was 11 years old when this happened, and I lived in northern New Jersey, only ten miles from New York City. It SHOCKED me then (as far as I could understand such a thing at such a young age), and I've never forgotten it...

I have two separate incidents like this that happened to me. I once heard a woman screaming help in the middle of a road, I called the police but she walked away before police arrived, she called out to me to open the main apartment door but I just said police are on the way. When I lived in the projects in Memphis I had kids come to my door, completely out of breath, begging to let them inside my apartment because someone was chasing them. I denied them entry and said I would call the police for them, they would get pissed and run off. It was only until I befriended my neighbor and a new group of kids tried this on me again that I discovered that multiple other kids were hiding on the other side of the door, waiting for me to unlock the door, then they would rush in and do god knows what. My new neighbor heard them hassle me and cocked his shotgun and I saw around 8 teens run away when I thought only 1 needed help.

I was assaulted in front of the hospital here last Friday. Even though I yelled and screamed for help, nobody did anything. It was in the middle of the day and there were people everywhere. And still nobody did anything.

This incident is explained in more detail (and the debunking of the bystander effect) in the book Humankind: A Hopeful History. I really recommend that book - it debunks a ton of “studies” that we take for granted that are actually rigged, like the prison experiment.

Chivalry is a meme and always has been. There's a lot of reasons for people not to help someone in need: being frightened themselves; not wanting to get involved in general; being in a hurry and so focussed on that they genuinely don't register the situation. What I'll say is that if you notice it and you'll have even two minutes to spare, just give the guys in blue a call. I used to get bullied a lot in the boarding school I went to, also got beaten up a lot, but that was kinda whatever since those were kids. Most of them grew up by now. A far more positive experience I had with the ByS (or lack thereof) was when I was riding home a full bus. I had a call and during it when the bus sped up, I lost balance and fell backwards. There was a step on the floor and it might or might not have ended badly for me, but before any of it happened, a good person caught my fall and so I thanked them. Though I need to add, we live in a community where basically everyone knows each other at least somewhat. Welcome to the sticks.

Thank you for all your videos and knowledge. Guys like this deserve the death penalty. Sad he got to live after taking her innocent life.

I feel so sorry for this lady. I suffered something similar but was lucky to live. I suffered an attempted murder in my boyfriend‘s flat by him. He tried to kill me for 7 1/2 hours. I was fighting for my life yet the Polish couple heard every scream in the flat underneath but did nothing, probably head by the Asian single woman on the bottom floor, but I can’t be certain of that. Despite being an old mill workers terraced house the walls were very thin and the monks in the house next door would’ve certainly heard me fighting for my life and pleading all night long, but they did nothing (I heard them all the time despite them meaning to be peaceful!) I had the strength to finally be able to get up and run away as he tried, he tried to run me through with a samurai sword yet it gave me chance to turn the key in the lock & throw the inner door open. I was exhausted by strangulation and smothering by with hands, belts, you name it, im 5ft, 6st, have a bone disease with a chest plate at the time & didn’t know I had leukaemia. He missed by an inch as he lunged but didn’t come after me, just leaned, missed, turned around & closed the door. I run down 4 flights to escape. I managed to grab my phone in the last strangulation & upon reaching the front door I called the police and as much as they rushed with a dog squad and a gun squad and had the helicopter up, due to the weapons he had, instead of turning up to 195 they turned up to 159 quite a way down the road! So it’s a miracle he was exhausted (what about me?) and didn’t bother coming after me. I will never forgive those people for ignoring my screams and pleas as I fought for life all night and in a matter of months later as my chest plate finally fell out as I have a bone disease and held together by titanium now, I had a weak plate at the time that finally gave way- collapsed due to the assault and part disintegrated, as he’s also beat my chest with a 4l drinks bottle, then of course I had to start going through major surgeries, one of which failed and nearly killed me and titanium which snapped, I was diagnosed with leukaemia around the time of my 3rd surgery (2nd after the attack) The hospital also figured out years later thanks for chest x-rays that went a little higher that he actually also broke my shoulder and my neck and I had no treatment for that whatsoever. I went temporarily blind in 1 eye as it came out of the socket & I pushed it back in myself, glasses & minor treatment helped this thanks to my gp sending me to an optician and hospital eye department. The lice never called me an ambulance. It was briefly in the paper, documented only half correctly and calling me by the wrong name. He didn’t go to prison and stalked me in person and online for years, I had a worthless non molestation order against him and despite witnesses and masses of proof, his committal to prison hearing also didn’t send him to prison. He got away with the anti binge drinking courses & Anti aggression courses he was sent in by court as the waiting list was longer than his sentence/ probation. He was sentenced to 9 years inside suspended for 2 years with weekly probation visits he had to attend. This was extended by a year after he had 2 dates with a girl who Wanted him when I was with him & I told her what happened. Being a solicitor’s secretary she brought up all the court documents & told him to stay away- thankfully she’d never been to his house or alone with him, telling him to stay away found her glasses in front of witnesses in a nightclub, so his sentence was only extended to 3 years suspension instead of 2. Apparently he also was found to have abused his 2 Manx cats. Sadly one of my family members made it all about them. I think that’s part of the reason why it wasn’t taken too seriously in court and by some people in public, although of course the witness in his next date’s glassing in public, people soon change their mind to believe me, but unfortunately it was way too late and the court case were over and people with already written in wonderful statements about what a great person he was, hence why he didn’t go to prison either time. He wrote what a garbage about me online and even paid somebody to break into my house and hit me over the head with a bottle. I since found out years later that he had a fiance before he was with me, who he had also quickly got engaged to (yeah we were engaged) like he did with me, he once her against the wall and was found choking her by her best friend, she fled the city never to be seen again and this guy still walking the streets of this day. They didn’t revoke in with his bar license although he didn’t do that job when I was with him he’d been fired apparently for after parties and drugs and even probation supported him going back to work in a new bar after being briefly given a chance at his old place he’s been fired from a messing up immediately. His new boss wasn’t ever sure whether to believe me or not 1 moment being nice and the next minute gave me shit in public over his ‘friend’ the attempted murderer! Then until my ex decided to smash his bar up in a fit of rage, see it was too late by then, everybody knew who he was, so he didn’t and couldn’t hide it anymore of course the guy was very apologetic to me but I didn’t wanna hear any of it I needed support at the time and I got literally zero. Everybody knew how much I adore them with certainly not make up something so elaborate and ridiculous for the sake of it, I was the educated one with a good reputation mean never had a particularly good reputation all the people that were jumping to his defence were real slags are scumbags. After suffering all that on the Ella facts the last thing I need more people jumping on me when I actually dare go out with a chaperone in public to face that shit so I can’t forgive anybody even despite their apologies too little too wet and too much for me to handle when I was suffering quite enough. I was even sent to a councillor a month later & mental health team who said I was more sane they were and that they would leave me be, at the councillor tried to get me to go back with him!! I really should’ve had her stroke off but I just couldn’t be arsed with it at the time. I could’ve got out of a lot of the suffering if the Polish people in the flat below or the monks next door had have just called the police. I would like to tell my story properly one day, but as I have an a bone disease I don’t wanna appear online because I just look ugly & totally exhausted by the attack despite it being 14 years ago, all the bone (albeit poor) treatment & cancer treatment I have had & don’t have the best life now, I really can’t handle being attacked for having a non-symmetrical face or a crooked nose- things again that the hospital won’t deal with despite it not being any of my fault I was born this way & made worse from him & his actions. They they never even fixed my chest properly despite 7 surgeries all before 35, so I don’t really know how to go about it but that’s my story, but I just guess I’m lucky I’m alive, unlike this poor lady.

I've once made the mistake of watching the CCTV footage of the chinese toddler getting driven over with a car, later another one and people just avoiding her little dying body. Honestly one of the things I can not forget. Totally scarred me. And made me so angry, disgusted and heartbroken.

The woman she actually lived with was her PARTNER....Just an FYI.

It doesn't cost much to ask if someone needs help or if help has been called already. That could save someone from getting hurt or dying. I know instances where someone has seen a drunk senseless woman being "helped" into a taxi or something and instead of assuming she's with a friend/bf have asked if she is ok and if they know that person with them - and discovered she _doesn't_ know the person and have only had one drink! You don't need to take them home/hospital, but call help or take her to the staff of the bar and tell them to call help and look after her until help arrives. Or something, ANYTHING. I've taken a habit of doing this - asking if people are ok or need help if I have any reason to suspect it. Even though everything is usually ok - it's really such a small trouble. I even go to every drunk sleeping away in some bush or bench to check they're just resting and not having a medical emergency. Even though they're "just" drunks (the kind that shit in their pants etc.) They are sill human beings and they are someone's son, a father, a brother... Once I was in a real hurry and with my child I think when a drunk took a tumble all the way down an escalator getting some cuts and bruised. There was another woman there so I asked if she can stay with the guy (she said yes) and told her I'd find the guards (it was a station/mall) to take care of the situation and call an ambulance (which I did). Took maybe a minute of my time (mind you he was conscious and didn't need CPR or anything that could not wait for an extra 60 seconds). There have been instances where I think bystanders should have been prosecuted for not doing anything. But don't go between people who are fighting. Too dangerous. Just call help or try to alert a guard or a cop or a bouncer or something.

some humans are deplorable. ive put myself in danger helping others and i always will. Im a helper and healer by nature. not sure how anyone can just stand by.

Yes. I have been in a few situations where something happened ans it fell to me to be the one to do something. It may be due to my being former military, but I don't hesitate, I act, even if it's just to leave a dangerous situation and contact emergency services. If you see another human in danger, do please render aid.

So many women lost because a man couldn't keep his hands to himself. What makes it so hard to control their desires? I makes men seem weak to me.

These days when you can push an attacker off of a victim during an assault/attempted murder and then get charged with assault, no one wants to help. Ever.

One time I called the police on a couple fighting at the gas station behind my house. There was a baby in the car. A few years later the police shot a woman who was reporting a rape from her house.

I’ve helped many people because NOBODY else would. People would much rather stop and STARE than actually help a fellow human out. I find more people would help an injured animal before helping an injured human

I have encountered several similar instances: drug addicts passed out unresponsive as people step over and around them; a man using a walker being set upon by three younger healthy people; a woman crying for help as she ran from an alleyway, her top ripped off of her, exposing her breasts. Sadly, each time their weee numerous witnesses about but no one stepped in. Some took videos with their phones. But each time, I am proud to say, I did something to help.

I investigated a car engine noise in a neighbour's garage once. I found a teen who had taken his life. I tried to get him out of the car but the garage was stuffed full so I was trying to push the car out of the garage by myself when his cousin showed up and asked me what I was doing. Once he realised, he helped me get the car out, and then get the teen out of the car. I gave the lad CPR. Too late. I live with guilt. If only I had gone up our driveway, past the neighbour's house earlier. So, the short answer to the question is: no, I haven't been caught in a bystander effect situation.

My new favorite channel to listen to while I’m falling asleep

Once experienced this effect when a woman collapsed at a main bus stop. There were about 20 people who just gathered in a circle not doing anything. I called an ambulance and luckily an elderly couple ended up getting involved as well with helping me getting her on her side. She was likely drunk, but that didn't change the fact that she was unconscious and might have injured herself while falling. Better safe than sorry. You also never know whether someone is actually drunk or was drugged, is having a stroke etc. Not that people should be treated like crap when they are actually drunk either...

Several years ago I was doing a presentation in Indianapolis. The ‘host’ booked a hotel room for me at a transient motel. When I travel my safety is my #1 priority, so I changed the room location and prayed for a quiet night. At about 1 AM I heard a woman yelling for help. The adrenaline kicked in and I was at the window to access the situation. I could hear her but not see her. Turns out it was the security alarm on a car in the parking lot. At dawn I was out of the place and called the host to suggest they lose my contact information.

As a retired teacher I had instilled into me the concept of duty of care. AS a result, when I was woken by screams for help outside my home, I witnessed a young girl being assaulted across from my bedroom window. I called the police who promptly appeared and caught in the act a young man raping a fifteen- year old.

i was on my way to work one day the roads were busy, i was driving through a local village coming down a hill i could see a young man and woman arguing the guy was hitting the woman at least 8 cars in front of me drove straight passed, the guy was screaming what come on then, i stopped and jumped out he looked at me and ran off, i put her in my car and drove her to her fathers house. honestly the human race shocks me how no one wants to help each other or isn't willing to help.

"Bystander effect" is a fancy way of saying "Complete and utter cowardice and stupidity."

I was living in an apartment building. One night, while sleeping, I was suddenly woken up by an elderly man screaming for help in the hallway. I jumped out of bed, and rushed out to see what was wrong. I was the only one who came to his aid. He said he had been robbed. The police were coming, so I went back to bed. The next thing I knew, the police were banging on my door and I was handcuffed because the old man who got robbed said I did it. I sat in the police car, handcuffed, crying my eyes out wondering how this was even happening. The police told me that the old man had heart trouble, and if he died I would be charged with murder. After awhile I was finally let go when they found the real robber. Months later the old man said to me, "I know you didn't rob me." Why then did he blame me. I'm still shaking my head about this. You can't make stuff like this up.

Thank You

I don't run but the sound of someone in help is exactly what it takes to get me to run. I would be headed toward them. I've been hurt too often to stand by as it happens to someone else.

When I heard the area where it happened it immediately reminded me of a woman that was killed and dismembered on her house by a handyman in the summer of 2022. And no neighbors heard or saw anything…

Once long before cellphones, I was in a resteraunt located on the bottom floor of my local mall. I was seated near the window so I could watch the goings on in the mall. We had a scenec elevator so that moms with prams, disabled people and the elderly could acess both levells without using the escalator. I noticed a small boy, maybe 7 years old, leaning way too far over the top railing to look at the floor below..when all of a sudden, there was a loud crash as he went over the rail & landed on the concrete floor below. The resteraunt I was in had the nearest payphone to the accident site & noone came to call 9 1 1. They all just stood around gaping. I made the call all the while the resteraunt owner was screeching in my ear not to use " their" phone because they " didn't want trouble".. the emt's were there pretty quickly & it turnes out, mine was the only call that came in .. I was only 19 while all the adults stood around.

If this happened today not only would nobody help, a dozen people would film it and put it on youtube for views/clout. The bystander effect is worse than ever because everyone sees themselves as a potential "cameraman" rather than a helper.

No wonder no-one wished to get involved if they would have been immediately suspected of the crime.

I would without a doubt help !!!

I live in nyc.....the bystander effect is alive and well here

i will never forget hearing a woman scream and scream as she was forced into a car in front of our house, and my parents refused my pleas for them to help her. it still bothers me fifty years later