Indifference
It is good to hear that someone has been arrested in connection with the 13-year-old girl who was raped in broad daylight yesterday. If guilty, he would be a prime candidate for locking away for good. Sexual predators such as he are highly unlikely to rehabilitate and will almost certainly reoffend if released.
However appalling his actions, I can’t help being more disgusted by the inaction of the woman to whom the 13-year-old appealed for help. What kind of person does not respond to the plea for help of a 13-year-old girl being stalked by a stranger? Could she not have offered to take the girl home? Or, at least, call her father and stay with her until he came? She could have even enlisted the BP garage attendant help to look after her until her father came. It seems beyond belief that she suggested that the girl should stay away from the man and then drove off.
Of course, we do not yet know all the facts. There may be a perfectly reasonable explanation for her actions, but, on the face of it, they are crassly insensitive and appallingly indifferent.
If this woman’s attitude is at all prevalent in society, it is unsurprising that we have an epidemic of child and spouse abuse and skyrocketing violent crime. If we wish to tackle these things as a society, we need to abandon our indifference, overcome our fears and help each other.
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Apr 14 09 7:56 am
Yes,Macdoctor,on the face of it,the womans indifference was appalling.But,just a thought.A woman alone with a possible scam happening.Some folk are just plain scared now to help anybody.
Apr 14 09 9:06 am
Ever heard of Kitty Genovese? Classic psychology 101. Bystander effect!
Apr 14 09 11:36 am
graeme: The bystander effect in a diffusion of responsibility when a crime is witnessed by multiple people (as in the case of Kitty Genovese). Essentially it is a “somebody else will do it” problem.
This was apparently a direct appeal from a young girl in trouble. I appreciate the fact that we are all cautious about being scammed, or even being set up for a mugging, but the simple fact is that this woman was at a garage and could have easily done something involving little or no risk, such as my third suggestion in my post.
Apr 14 09 1:03 pm
MacD we run gas stations and the forecourt is not a goof place. Cars are still stolen when people leave their keys in them, handbags and other personal possessions are stolen from seats of unlocked cars, Various developmental stages of lowlife hang around in their cars.
I am not making excuses for the woman as I do not know anything apart from what I have read in the media, and they are not good sources of accurate information.
This woman may have had many reasons for not assisting and yes we are at that stage in our society, where people do not get involved. I think Nia Glassie is dead because of exactly that.
Sadly, you are probably right.
Apr 14 09 4:51 pm
We do not even know if the alleged offender is guilty but we can make some logical assumptions. I can understand a woman refusing to open her door to her home at night if a girl knocks and says she is being chased by a strange man.
I have been listening to talkback on RadioLive with JT and Willy Jackson. It is amazing the number of callers who are making excuses that the woman was probably scared. Woman now have equality in the military. They can also be expected to take at least a minimal risk like in the above case. All she would have had to do was tell the girl to get in the passenger seat and take her down the road.
I am surprised the police are not able to track this woman down from her licence number. If the service station had a video it sure would have picked up her number. This woman certainly has shown her true colours now by not coming forward. I hope if the police have to find her that her name is published.
Apr 14 09 5:37 pm
I would be wary of some kind of set-up, but all that was needed was a call to the police and tell her to sit tight- lock herself in the service station toilet if necessary.
Oswald Bastable’s last blog post..Payback!
Apr 15 09 11:01 am
The woman has now come forward. I have heard that she feared if she didn’t that she would be exposed. She has not come up with a creditable reason or excuse for her inaction. I do hope she has guilty conscience and is embarrassed if people find out who she is.
As I understand the law if a police officer asked a member of the public for help and that is not forthcoming that person can be charged with an offence. If that is the case this should apply to anyone asking for help. In either case one should not be expected to put oneself at serious risk. For example one should not be expected to intervene if four gang members are attacking someone.