Seeing 60 seconds of someone else's domestic violence situation made me wonder...

What does her not seeing the point of calling the police say? ... Also, why did the neighbour wonder whether she'd be justified in ignoring the crime, weighing up whether it was any of her business?

You had your justifications for walking on by, Agent, and so did she. I'm not going to judge you or your neighbour. I'm an 'interferer' and am well aware that people show a variety of reactions to trouble. But I imagine you might think about why you question someone else's decision to leave the woman to her injuries, but not your own?

If it had been a child - or an old man - instead of a woman, would you have done exactly the same?

or, alternatively, re-reading the OP, she could have fallen, but either way, i think i would have asked and then if appropriate called the police, ambulance, whatever.

if the OP did not see how the injuries were caused then she could have at least called for medical help.

i thought reading the title that it was a definite DV situation, re read and see that it was not clear how she came by the injuries. I wouldnt necessarily assume that it was DV.

OP: do you know that the injuries were from DV as opposed to a street mugging or a fight? And do you know that the man who took the injured woman in to a house was/is her partner and the perpetrator of the harm? It's not clear from your post. He might have been the kind stranger taking her inside for a cup of tea while he called the police. He might have been her partner taking her indoors after she'd been mugged by a stranger.

Agent you can't assume that the injuries "weren't what a woman could inflict" because women can inflict terrible violence.

I know you moved off because of your DD....but I would have called the police.

ambulance will often call police if they think its something we should know about - ambulance control are always calling.

if its something happening then and there in front of you call 999.

calling later is of little use - if people have gone when the police get there then there is little that can be done, the victim could have gone, witnesses gone, offender gone. leaves us with sod all. and if its something that is happening there and then then it will be an immediate response, more likelihood of finding those involved.
if you call later, then it will be downgraded in priority- if you call hours later, then its pointless the police/ambulance rocking up with sirens blazing and expecting to find everyone still there.

an immediate response means you have to get there within 15 mins, if someone is being assaulted in front of you then it would always be graded as an immediate.

its worth phoning- dont they do the good samaritan story at school any more? i cant believe the amount of people who wont get involved in any any way, even if its just to make a call.

It is indeed human nature not to act if it is not their direct problem. The OP however, wonders about other people not acting, assuming all sorts of attitudes toward dv, while not doing something herself either. She justifies it with her little DD. Fair enough. The woman tending to the victim might have had those attitudes the OP wants to question, but equally might have had good reasons not to get too much involved like herself, like considering her own safety if the perpetrator was still around.

It's the questioning of others' behaviour when doing nothing different herself is what people are questioning, if that makes sense.

If you think others should have acted differently, then so should you. You find a way to do it, around the corner or afterwards, however. You find a way to do it.

Well nobody is ever going to step in then, because like I said there's always a reason not to.

The people the woman was with didn't have a handle on it, they didn't think there was any point in calling the police for a woman who a man had violently attacked. If you knew there was a criminal in the vicinity who had committed a crime, wouldn't you call the police on him?

I think people who see stuff like this and do nothing can cope with a little blame. It's still better than having your face smashed to a pulp and realising that nobody is going to help you and that the guy who did it, is being given approval by the people around him witnessing what he did, to carry on as before.

Did the OP call the police in the end. I've read the thread but I didn't see that part.

She called them in the end.

People do what they do. Wrong or right or early or late or not at all. We all have different personalities and backgrounds and inbuilt reactions. There are complex social things that go on "bystander" reaction etc

I don't like this blaming people for not acting. If it's not people's direct problem they can find it hard to act. That is human nature. Even in direct situations people often don't act.

Surely we have all been in situations where we felt that maybe we should call someone and didn't? I have certainly been there, quite a few times. I have also been in situations where the police were called and that was not the right thing to do.

In zigzag's case people were there who seemed to know the woman and have a handle on what was going on so she left it to them. That is a fairy normal reaction, I think.

the police would have acted, whether she was drunk or not. she had been beaten. she will likely be known to the police and they would likely know who the offender was.

someone should have phoned them. a 999 call can be anonymous. i cant believe that people walk on and ignore things like this. im in the police. the attitude that DV is not taken seriously is very old hat.

That was a good thing you did kingbeat.

I called them after I asked people to call whilst I was trying to calm down the situation, when noone bothered to call them whilst I was doing so and it was getting far beyond the means of me being able to calm it down rationally and save this woman and it was going into a state of violence I could handle by myself, I called them. That's why.

'I asked people to call the police, but noone wanted to know. I asked the station master in the ticket office to call the police but he just shrugged his shoulders and said "she's a prostitute". So I called them. '

Why didn't you call them in the first place?

I used to work nights and one night I came home from work and ended up at Finsbury Park Station. I was waiting for my bus and a prostitute was having an arguement with her pimp. He started beating the living shit out of her and noone did a thing.

I asked people to call the police, but noone wanted to know. I asked the station master in the ticket office to call the police but he just shrugged his shoulders and said "she's a prostitute". So I called them.

I saw people on their way to work walking past and not batting an eyelid, I saw people at the bus stop not making a move.

So I called the police. Prostitute or not, that woman is a person and shouldn't be treated like that just because of her job or her lifestyle. I don't know what happened after that but I felt a bit better knowing that I did not have to stand back and watch as others had.

Who, me?

I totally understand not hanging around because she had her daughter with her. Just curious as to why that was the end of the matter for ZigZag.

The OP isn't a victim here. Please don't compare her to a victim of domestic violence who has no choices. Victims don't generally "return" to their abusers by the way, they are targeted by them.

Everybody has a duty to act to help female victims of men's violence if they can. A telephone call even for an ambulance out of earshot does not put anybody in danger. You don't need to be strong to do it, you just need to do it.

Why are you being so negative towards a woman who didn't feel able or strong enough to act when she saw the consequences of what she assumed was DV?
She was shocked and upset and worried for4 her daughter. The responsibility for what happened lies solely with the aggressor.
Would you blame the victim if she returns to the man who may be beating her?

Going back to your questions:

What does her not seeing the point of calling the police say? Whether it's because it's happened before and her telling them was useless, or whether she didn't think they could do anything to protect her, both lead to the police not being able to effectively deal with these types of crime

Quite. It also might say that she didn't want to get over-involved, be a witness etc. Or, in other words, be a good citizen. Or maybe, because violence by men against women is a bit of an occupational hazard and it's her own fault if it's happened before etc etc.

Also, why did the neighbour wonder whether she'd be justified in ignoring the crime, weighing up whether it was any of her business? If it were an older person being punched to the extent this woman was she wouldn't have hesitated in calling them. Could the way it happened not being how some people see as a 'typical' DV incident (i.e. at night, inside etc) have skewed the neighbours judgement of what to do and made her question herself?

See above. DV is ignored by others, full stop. If there were more witnesses who would come forward, there would be more convictions. There is a bizarre mindset going on that we have to look out for ourselves and that we must "take responsibility" so that anything that happens to us is somehow partially our own fault and why should anyone else get involved in clearing up our messes.

Or not. I dunno. Lots of people are arsebadgers. I stil don't get why you did nothing. Did you talk to the woman? Catch her eye? Turn the pram away so your daughter couldn't see her and ask if there was anything you could do?

Give the police a call on the non-emergency number. I have done this in the past and they reassured me I had done the right thing. Circumstances were different from those you describe but I like you was concerned for someone's safety and wellbeing. I mentioned it to a friend who was a special constable at the time and she also said I had done the right thing.

BTW, the title of this thread: 60 seconds is also long enough for a man to kill a woman. It happens.

A telephone call made from round the corner does not mean involving your daughter in this. You saw a woman badly hurt, whom nobody else was helping and you left her too.

There's always a reason for people not getting involved. There's never a reason for doing so, except that you just decide you have to, no excuses.

The guy who beat her just got the message that people will always help him get away with it.

it is an awful story, nyac, but i understand the op not wanting to risk getting her small dd involved in it.

i think still think it might be worth phoning the police even now, though, to see if anything can be done