Numerous rape attacks could have been avoided if any one of the countless bystanders had taken action to help the victim, so what stopped them from interfering? Many believers would say “it is not their problem.” But what if we were the victim to this attack, then is it our problem and would we want a bystander to intervene? Of course we would, any actual victim of rape can tell us how they wish someone would’ve stopped the attack. Or the bystanders decide to not interfere from the fear of becoming a victim to the attack, or just simply getting hurt themselves. Yes, we as bystanders have to care for our personal safety but we as individuals with social responsibly should also care about the safety of the victim as well. Everyone assumes that …show more content…
But why do we just ignore the situation and wait for the authorities to arrive not knowing exactly when they are going arrive. When we see a potential sexual assault there are many actions one can take. Such as calling 911, notifying security, or even trying to scare the attacker off in a safe way like playing the sounds of police sirens or walking by in a big group to show a power in numbers. As Daniel Rappaport, the Sexual Assault Prevention Coordinator at American University, stated “We all have our individual obstacles to intervening – it is not about overcoming all of those obstacles.” In my opinion, our individual obstacles shouldn’t prevent us from intervening as the victim to the attack in is more need of a helping hand. Daniel Rappaport provides basic tools that he teaches his students and we as bystanders could use as well. The tools fall under three basic categories: “Directly intervening, delegating an intervention, or creating a distraction.” Directly intervening is seen as the most used and possibly the most effective way to prevent the situation from occurring. For example, in the 2009 Richmond high school gang rape case there was ten individuals who assaulted the young sophomore girl during the homecoming dance and ten individuals who watched the assault and never called police. Because of those bystanders not interfering in the attack and not calling the cops the sixteen-year-old girl was assaulted for over two and half hours then left for dead. If any of the bystanders would’ve have taken action to the scene, then the victim could’ve experience a far less abusive attack. How could those individuals directly
Cruelty Even though some might argue that it is human nature to be cruel; there are other facts that prevent humans from helping others, diffusion of responsibility, lack of knowing what to do and other psychological forces take tremendous effect. Diffusion of responsibility: the idea that when in a crowd responsibility is shared among them .Individuals not knowing how to react , due to little education and lastly in the moment of the circumstance the individual wants to help but is in affect of denial paralyzed ,scared or shocked . In chapter 4, “In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing “a murder scene is introduced where a beautiful young women Catherine
When it comes to intervening in a dangerous situation, most people are too afraid to stand up for what is right. There are some clear steps as to how to intervene in a dangerous situation such as sexual assault. According to the Marine Corps Community Service website article,(“Master The Three “D’s” To Bystander Intervention”) “Bystander intervention is one of the most effective ways to prevent sexual assault.” There are 3 D’s that help an individual intervene in a dangerous situation. According to the article, the three “D’s” are “ To delegate, direct, and to distract.”
If you saw someone being attacked on the street, would you help? Many of us would quickly say yes we would help because to state the opposite would say that we are evil human beings. Much research has been done on why people choose to help and why others choose not to. The bystander effect states that the more bystanders present, the less likely it is for someone to help. Sometimes a bystander will assume that because no one else seems concerned, they shouldn't be (Senghas, 2007). Much of the research that has been done supports this definition of the bystander effect. There have also been recent situations where this
Gray, Eliza. "Campus Sexual Assault: Why Don't victims Go To Police?" Time. Time, 23 June 2014. Web. 09 May 2017
Today’s society is full of insane and demented human beings who don’t seem to know right from wrong. A lot of people suffer because of this, especially college students. Simple assault, abduction, and rape are three crimes that have been on the rise throughout college campuses all over the United States. From 2008 to 2012 forcible rape increased by forty-nine percent in four-year colleges. It jumped from 2,370 to 3,621 in a matter of four years (Shapiro). We as individuals have the ability to help keep ourselves safe from these kinds of people. We are provided with a variety of resources and information including forms of personal protection, body strength, and safety in numbers. The problem is we are not utilizing these to the best of our ability. I know we all think that we are invincible and nothing terrible could happen to us, but the reality is, it can.
The Bystander Program focuses on a wider audience and is aimed at changing community norms regarding sexual assault. Meaning instead of primarily focusing on woman as being the primary victims of sexual assaults and men as the perpetrators, bystander programs approach both as bystanders of sexual assault (Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007; Baynard et al., 2004; Hines & Palm Reed, 2011). These types of programs have been known to change the attitudes towards sexual assaults, the willingness to help, empathy for victims and
Sexual assault policy in the United States as it stands is clearly inadequate for protecting the physical wellbeing of men and women from sexual assault. Layering of policy serves a s a Band-Aid on a social wound much too large to be contained and the rise of sexual assault as a public problem reiterates the need for greater legislation and policy to protect everyone from becoming prey to the crime of sexual assault. While eyes focus on the (disproven) rise of violence in the United States, and turn to gun control, other violent crimes are forgotten. Sexual Assault has seen several cases of policy failure that actors have tried to salvage through the act of policy layering and have not significantly resolved the problem.
Victims of sexual violence is the first population we will discuss. “On average, there are 321,500 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States” (Rain.org, “Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics,” 2016, para. 1). Criminal justice professionals will encounter rape victims and sexual assault victims. Police officers have the duty of charging and arresting the perpetrator and getting the persons assaulted to safety. Victims of rape and sexual assault have to
The lives of women are changed, devastated, and ruined by sexual assault. They will most likely never be the same person they used to be. A survivor of sexual assault will often take safety measures to avoid another one of these encounters; for example, they may walk an extra mile to avoid a dark alley she saw a man lurking around the other day or spend money on things like pepper spray, a rape whistle, or self-defense classes—all in an attempt to defend themselves from something preventable. In fact, a 2014 survey shows that 45% of women in America felt that walking alone after sundown was dangerous, which means that it is safe to say that even women
Sexual assault on college campuses is an increasingly serious issue in The United States. Approximately 25% of female college students will experience a sexual assault by the time they graduate, and many of them will not report their attack (Perez-Pena, 2015). This has come to the nation’s attention, and multiple interventions have been put in place to try and reduce the number of sexual assaults. One of these programs is the Bystander Intervention Program, which helps educate individuals so that they have the proper knowledge to help during a sexual assault, or during a situation that has the potential to become an assault (McMahon, 2015; Banyard, 2011; Burn, 2009). The intent of this paper is to evaluate the Bystander Intervention
The main topic covered by this document is the fact that there are countless solutions to the increasing number of sexual assault crimes that colleges can and should use. Since many schools in the past have been hiding and disregarding reports of sexual assault, they do not have what they need to help victims. “To better address sexual assault at our nation’s schools, we need to both strengthen our enforcement efforts and increase coordination among responsible federal agencies” (The First Report of the White House). Considering this, schools will be provided with links and information about how they can enact their own bystander intervention programs on campus as part of a prevention program. Prevention programs are when men are empowered to step in when someone’s in trouble and teaching them how they can be part of the solution. Colleges need to have all of the parts of a plan in place, so they can act on the crime efficiently. Emergency services should also be available at all hours of the day, since sexual assault can happen at any time. Schools will also have trauma-informed training programs for school officials and campus law enforcement. This is due to the fact that trauma can leave the memories of victims fragmented, and insensitive and judgmental questions can cause victims to become more distressed. Some questions aren’t allowed to
The issue of sexual assaults on college campus leads to the creation of programs and new policies within institutions, but It also encourages innovators to create new approaches to prevent or alleviate the issue. A program that aimed to train first-year female college students to “avoid rape substantially lowered their risk of being sexually assaulted” (Hoffman). Other programs like Bringing in the Bystander try to approach the issue by increasing bystander awareness of the problem expecting a safer environment (National Institute of Justice). For Instance, “in one study, rates of sexual harassment and stalking victimization and perpetration were lower at a college with a bystander-training program than at two colleges without such a program”
Sexual assault has become an ongoing problem across the United States, especially on college campuses. It is not uncommon for one to expect a female dressed scandalously or a male under the influence to experience sexual assault. There is no known definition of consent or when consent is given that leads to this increase in sexual violence. Many cases and stories have risen where the victim of these crimes are not taken seriously or given proper respect when dealing with the situation. The victims are stereotyped, used as the root of jokes, mocked in the media, and are not taken seriously. Sexual violence is a serious matter that our society denies as a real issue resulting in a lack of regard for the victims and poor handling of the situation by medical
It's useless to acknowledge a problem and not offer any sort of improvement or suggestions. College and Universities should be responsible for providing sexual assault prevention as well as awareness especially to freshman and sophomores since most sexual assaults happen in the first two years of college. It is important that sexual assault prevention strategies be set up in a matter where incoming students are educated as soon as enrollment is completed. Programs should focus on both prevention for women who have not experienced any sexual assault and also provide prevention to those have experienced it before. Providing accurate information on legal definitions of sexual assault, the extent of sexual assault among college women, and risk
Imagine you are at a party, having a blast and enjoying everyone’s company; suddenly one of your group members goes missing. Of course, you start to panic and everyone starts to look for your friend until you bust open a door to your friend unconscious and being sexually assaulted by another individual. Although, it is a very controversial subject; rape, sexual assault and even sexual harassment could happen anywhere, at any time, to anyone. A simple no just is not enough anymore; it is disgusting how now a days no one is safe anywhere, not even a party with their friends. There is never justification for rape; if a man or women says no then all advances should be immediately stopped.