Bystanders to assaults

[ThatBloodyWoman]

I was listening to radio the other day (Jeremy Vine happened to be on) and the discussion was about bystanders to (sexual) assaults.
I was shocked to hear a story so similar to my own,,and I wondered how frequently it happens that a woman is assaulted in public,yet there is a reluctance to intervene,and just how that could be.
Why wouldn't someone do something?

"Some of the cases on this thread are shocking and horrifying. I am always, however, disappointed with scenarios that entail, "My male friend (DH or whatever) tried to intervene but the woman victim didn't want him to and he was abused himself in the end" because it implies that somehow the woman victim is to blame for the abuse she receives"

I totally agree with you rosa and sorry I didn't mean to imply that when I mentioned what happened to my brother - I was trying to say that there are ways to intervene that put the intervener less in line for direct violence (though that would never be the intervener's or the victim's fault), so it's not an excuse for doing nothing IYSWIM

These stories are all horrific

I would be terrified to intervene,

However, filming could prove vital evidence if presented to the police as such.

(Obviously, anyone just filming for YouTube is a scumbag)

its hard to intervine if you see a man and woman that seem to be arguing and i usually dont but i hang around to see if how it develops ive never seen an argument turn into assault but on the train one morning i saw a distressed looking woman being followed around the carriage by a weirdo i watched for about 30 seconds to make sure what i was seeing was untoward when i was sure i grabbed the mans arm and shouted in his face to leave her alone and get ofdf at the next stop he cowered like the cowerd he was and left at thenext stop none of the other 50 people on the train batted an eyelid . we all must intervine !!

icant spell intervene

Rosa... good points about the verbal sexual harassment. At the least, there's nothing stopping anyone from going over to the victim inthose instances and saying something along the lines of 'this is horrible, are you ok, do you want some help'. So what if you get jeered at too. It would underline the point that it is not acceptable to the victim and help them feel less alone. I'm steadily coming to the conclusion that social isolation and lack of communication are the core of Britain's social problems and we all need to work to build bridges, just little ones, one at a time. (Statement of the bleedin' obvious I suppose!).

"because it implies that somehow the woman victim is to blame for the abuse she receives and it ignores the complex reasons as to why that is happening to that victim, and possibly has been happening to that victim for a long build-up of time." Yes, yes and yes!

And I like the idea of approaching the victim as opposed the attacker. Isolate the attacker rather than the victim.

I'm a serial intervener. But then I'm physically equipped to do so. Size is a significant factor in avoiding violence in situations such as these. Assailants like to prey on the weaker, or arm themselves. Whenever Ive been with a partner they always grab my arm and hold me back though. My wife tells me I have responsibilities.

you sound like a man after my DH's heart Spell99,