Kitty Genovese Murder Research Paper

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The Cost of Ignoring the Call for Help How would you feel if you were in danger and no one helped? On a Saturday night, at least 20 people either watched or partook as a 15-year-old girl was gang raped and beaten on the night of her homecoming dance. She was allegedly raped and beaten in an alleyway outside of the high school gym, with witnesses to the disturbing crime even taking photos, with no one standing up to help her (Chen). While we ask ourselves, why did no one stand up to help the victims, an often overlooked question is, “Do these witnesses deserve to be punished for doing nothing?” The same question can be applied to the Kitty Genovese murder; Genovese was stabbed multiple times with 38 witnesses who did nothing to stop the murderer …show more content…
In Philadelphia, a blind man was assaulted, with people continuing on with their daily lives, despite seeing the terrible act happening (Andress). With communities rising up to take action and spreading awareness on bystander acts such as the assaulted blind man, widespread action will be taken to prevent bystander situations. In addition, with communities on the rise realizing how detrimental bystanders can be, this will prevent more situations such as the blind man’s case from happening. Author and Producer Irshad Manji writes about being an upstander, writing “...Most people who show moral courage do so because of their inner conscience drowning the voice of passivity.” With the moral courage to stand up and help others, communities against the Bystander effect can stand up to be an upstander rather than a bystander. Therefore, with a Duty-to-Rescue law put into action, communities can stand up and be upstanders. Ultimately, the Duty-to-Rescue law will ensure that people who are in dangerous situations will receive the help they need, and will allow for bystanders to serve the consequences of their