Kitty Genovese Was Murdered, and People Stood Around and Did Nothing
Kitty Genovese was a 28-year-old bartender murdered outside her apartment building. She was raped and stabbed. While this was an unfortunate ending to a young life, many misconceptions accompanied her case. The “New York Times” did a shoddy job and reported that her neighbors heard her screaming and did nothing.
The Bystander effect is real, but it didn’t happen in the case of Kitty Genovese. Many neighbors called the police. Others went to comfort her while waiting for the police, which drove away the murderer from coming back to finish her off.