Eyes Wide Shut

On October 24th, just a few weeks ago, we were all shocked by reports of a gang rape and beating in Richmond, California. A high school dance ended in this horrific event for one 16-year-old girl. She was beaten and raped for hours in public, while passersby made no motion to stop the attacks, which were perpetrated by up to 10 suspects. I really hope learning these details angers others as much as it angered me. There’s no other emotion for it. I’m irate and disgusted. Still. After sitting on this story for two weeks.

This 16-year-old-girl left her school dance and spotted some friends having a drink outside. She had apparently ingested quite a bit of alcohol and was half-conscious when she was found by police hours later, underneath a bench outside of her school. I know the moral depravity of some people, many times, becomes the blight of others, but how do the circumstances line up in such a way that no one calls for help? No one who actually saw this! It was reported by someone who heard word of mouth about it.

It is a result demonstrated in many studies that when people see things, they are much more affected by them. Case in point, the anti-smoking commercials where we are forced to watch someone with a tube sticking out of their throat, or someone who has lost three fingers. What is so different about a sexual assault incident that makes people have the opposite reaction? This raises some serious questions about the way our culture views rape (like the elephant in the room we should avoid speaking about. If we ignore it maybe it'll just go away. Yeah right!) 

Are people so desensitized that even seeing a brutal sexual attack does not faze the public? I get suspicious of couples exchanging a few harsh words in a supermarket! Who are these people who saw a girl get raped “with a foreign object” and did nothing about it? Our fellow peers in school, at work, and our neighbors are the people on whom we rely on a daily basis to, if not rush to our rescue, but make an attempt to get us help. I honestly feel like I’ve stepped into a different dimension when I think about people strolling by this gruesome scene unaffected by what they’ve seen.

I know that everyone’s thinking about the rapists as well, and in no way am I excusing their actions by focusing on the misgivings of the passersby. I’m just shocked that even people, who may not succumb to actually committing a despicable crime like that, would let other people do so. How can someone sleep at night, knowing that they witnessed a tragedy that could have possibly been prevented? It’s scary. To what extent do the moral compasses of our neighbors and colleagues allow them to forgive themselves?

This has to raise concerns about community action and safety. The police most likely won’t be there unless they are called. This is now the problem of the neighborhood, of the parents whose children attend this school. Wouldn’t they want someone to call for help for their sons and daughters?