Gang Rape Shocks California Community
Bystanders Do Nothing While 15-Year-Old Beaten and Raped
Nov 3, 2009
It was a Saturday night homecoming dance at a high school in Richmond California, a suburb of San Francisco. While hundreds of students were packed inside the gym, a 15-year-old girl was just outside the school in a dimly lit alley. It is alleged that she was beaten and raped by several boys and men; an attack that went on for over two hours.
While the estimates vary, there were between 20 and 25 people standing around watching the prolonged attack. None of these people tried to stop the violence or even bothered to call the police. The gang rape went unreported until another girl overheard two young men bragging about the incident and called 911.
When police did arrive they found the 15-year-old victim semiconscious and naked from the waist down. Six boys and men were later arrested although one was released due to a lack of evidence. The juveniles will be tried as adults and all suspects if convicted, face the maximum of life imprisonment.
The Bystander Effect
The Bystander Effect is a phenomenon that sometimes occurs when a crime is committed in front of innocent witnesses. The theory postulates that the more people that are present, the less an individual thinks that he or she needs to intervene or call for help.
These people rationalize or assume that someone else will render assistance. As well, the presence of many people not doing anything to assist the victim makes people feel that no assistance is really required. After all, if an intervention was really necessary, others would be helping. There have been some high-profile occasions of where this Bystander Effect has been observed.
Kitty Genovese
Perhaps the most prominent example of the Bystander Effect was the brutal murder of 28-year-old Kitty Genovese. Around 3 a.m. on March 13, 1964, Genovese was returning to her Queen’s New York apartment after her shift as a bar manager. As soon as she got out of her car, she was attacked and stabbed twice in the back. She then staggered to the rear of her apartment building and collapsed.
While being stabbed Genovese screamed for someone to help her. Her attacker fled but returned a few minutes later. He searched the grounds until he again found her. He then raped Kitty Genovese and stabbed her to death.
According to media reports at the time, at least 38 people who were in their apartments heard her screams. Some even looked out their window. Not one person went to her assistance or bothered to phone the police.
While later investigations concluded that much of the apathy that was reported was exaggerated by the media, Genovese’ murder gave rise to what is known as the Bystander Effect. How bystanders sometimes react to violent crime being committed in front of them is also sometimes referred to as the Genovese Syndrome.
Was the California Rape an Example of the Bystander Effect?
The name Kitty Genovese has appeared in many media accounts of the incident that took place just outside of Richmond High School. Although several onlookers stood around and did nothing to assist the victim, it may not be an example of what is understood as the Bystander Effect.
UCLA law professor Peter Arenella doesn’t think it is. According to Arenella this was not a bunch of people standing around thinking that someone else will get help or summon the police. Nor were they simply indifferent to the violent crime that they were witnessing. According to witnesses, some of the young people watching were smiling and pointing. Others were laughing. Still others took out their cell phones; not to call for help but to film the rape and beating of a helpless young teenage girl. These bystanders appeared to be enjoying what was happening rather than being disinterested or thinking that someone else will act.
The Law
In the state of California there is no general duty on a person who witnesses a crime to report it. The exception to this rule is that people are legally obligated to report a murder or a violent or sexual assault that is committed against a child under the age of 14 years. The victim in this case was 15.
Some states do have laws that report some crimes under some circumstances. Another UCLA law professor, Eugene Volokh, is calling for a change in the law to require anyone who witnesses a crime being committed to report it.
The local District Attorney has announced that they are investigating to see if they have evidence of anyone goading the attackers or assisting them in any way. If so, these bystanders will be charged with aiding and abetting.
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