Word Mael.

It's your prerogative to look out for helpless people in a jam. It's not your prerogative to be fucking Batman. Calling the cops and scaring the guy away would have been plenty. Beating the shit out of that dickless pussy or breaking his arms or whatever doesn't make you any more of a hero.

f that
 

man that is one thing I can not stand, if there was ever something happening like that, i would intervene. I would really hurt someone.

You and I think alike on this subject, sixate. I agree with you on this.

Im gonna have to agree with Mael on this one... It does seem rather different sitting behind a computer and actually seeing it. When it happened, all sorts of things went through my head--is this really happening? Am I misunderstanding it? Maybe there is a reason for this. Maybe he isnt really going to rape her. What if he has a knife? A gun? What business of it is mine? <i>Is this really happening?</I>

Like I said, I kind of sat there with a dumb stare on my face for a few seconds before the brain kicked in and registered that yes, this was really happening, and yes, it was clearly a case of attempted rape. Once that happened, things started to move--phone came out, started to cross the street.

Looking back on it now, it seems easy to say "sure, cross the street and beat the shit out of him." Its a little bit different there. Three weeks ago, I would have answered this thread the same way--kick his ass. Now, Im not so sure.

I'd like to think I would jump in to protect the woman if I realized the situation was way out of hand, but I really don't know...I just hope I never get into a situation where I must make that decision.

Was in a sorta similiar situation once. I was at a bar drinking with some buds. A guy next to me(who was bigger than me with these sorta muscles popping out all over) must have said something really rude to the girl he was talking to(she happened to be a friend of one of my friends) so all of a sudden she says "Fuck You!" and slaps him really hard in the face. He stands up and gives her a shove that sent her over some tables. Then he looks at me and sorta gives me a smirk like"Whattya gonna do?"

What would you do?

The only sensible thing. I jumped on him, got a coupla swings in before he body slammed me to the floor and the bouncers were in right away to pull him off me. I got two cracked ribs and a black eye, but the girl's adoration and the feeling of at least trying to help her helped my own self esteem, even though he kicked my ass :)

There is some thing about a shift or responsibility when there are a ton of other people there, and it is a proven pyschological fact. When there are lots of others around, people will assume that others are the ones that are going to take action, and will oftentimes not do anything. It's just like that guy on the side of the expressway changing his tire... if it was out in the boonies, I bet the first car by would stop and see if he needed help/a phonecall or whatever, but since he is downtown everyone assumes that all is well.

No Question to be honest, if your a group and its just a man trying to rape a woman then you should step in, by the time the police get there if they ever come it would more that likely be too late.

I applaud you for trying to sort it out :) Even if it did hurt you then at least you have that girls affections as you said. Better tactic than a cheesy chat up line.

I'm not saying I wouldn't help, but be careful. I have a friend in that ended up with a nice bullet hole in his neck cause he tried to help. OH, then he went to jail cause after he dragged himself into his car he ran the person over that shot him. (didn't kill him). When It all went to court, the woman he tried to help, didn't back up his side of the story.(It was her boyfriend that was beating on her) So the guy said he shot after my buddy hit him with the car. He had to do 3 years.

Even if the guy was huge I think its better for me to take an ass whoopin than for that chick to get rapped. I aint all that big, but I think with a running start I could pretty effectivly Jimmy Fly Snooka someone off the top ropes. It would at least give the girl long enough to get away.

Never had the experience but I would call 911. If there were four of us we would probably go over too. I don't really know.

Be Careful!

Already been there, already done that - kicked his ass and nearly went to jail because of it.

My friend and I were coming out of a bar at about 11pm. Dude was dragging a girl by the hair, through the parking lot, and trying to put her in his car. I ran over screaming at him and proceeded to break his arm while trying to get him to let her go. The cops pull in while I am pinning him to the ground with my knee in the back of his neck. He wasn't fighting much at that point due to the broken arm.

The cops proceeded to take ME down and begin to cuff me for fighting. I explained the situation and when they questioned the girl, she said I jumped her boyfriend for no reason. Witnesses intervened (including my buddy who just stood there the entire time doing nothing) and after the cops noticed her torn clothes and scrapes, I was let go. Boyfriend was found to have a gun in the back of his pants when frisked by the cops. Apparently he couldn't get at it because of the busted arm (and being properly pinned).

When I asked my buddy why he just stood there and did nothing, he said that he had no idea what to do. He just froze. It is easy to understand as he was a pretty non-physical kind of guy and probably never thought about it.

I almost ended up dead trying to save this girl. She rewarded my efforts by trying to send ME to jail instead of the piece-of-shit who was abusing her.

If you feel that you have to help (and you should), try to remember that the person you are accosting is crazy and is probably going to try to kill you. Things are not always what they seem but if you think someone is about to die, you can't take the chance of doing nothing. I would do the EXACT same thing again because I responded to what I thought was a woman in peril. There are no rules in this kind of shit so anything goes!

never been a situation like that. being in a group of guys it would be easier to stop the guy if there was a problem. definitely would call the police.

you guys did the right think, good thing someone else called before anything bad happened

That is disturbing.
Kudos to you, good sir! :D

Meepa's example of the woman in NY is THE example used by my psychology professor to emphasize the "Bystander Effect". Take any introductory psychology class and you'll hear about it. The sad fact is that most people freeze and don't act when something atrocious happens in front of them. :(

Don't let the Bystander Effect influence you! Call the cops if you ever see or hear anything suspicious like rape, murder, or whatever. It's generally not a good idea to be a hero...

Even if you don't become physically involved in the situation, just calling out in an loud voice to let the guy know that his actions are being observed, will in most cases, at least allow the woman to get away from the attacker. Any distraction is better than doing nothing. Also, calling 911 is great, even if it is just a marital dispute. The cops will understand.

I don't know for sure what I would do, given that I've never been in (and hope never to be in) that situation. I like to think that I'd do a few nerve strikes on the assailant's neck, then immobilize him, though I'm not sure of two things - one, that I could do so, and two, that I wouldn't be put in jail for doing so - the famed Ladder of Force application here.

saw the same thing about two weeks ago coming home from a party at my school. I was with two of my friends... we all are over around 6ft and 190 lbs, so when we saw it we intervened. The guy was a freshman, and not a very big one, so when we opened our mouth he moved about 10 ft from the girl and attempted to explain what the problem was. I told him i didnt really care what the problem was, and he just needed to keep his hands off his "gf" we fallowed them for a little way and things seemed to have calmed down so we went back to our rooms.

u guys clearly did the right thing. Not sure about whoever called 911 and disappeared though. Seems like they should have also tried to intervene if not just by shouting over at the guy. But who knows how u'd react in the heat of the situation

if it was me, the cops saved his life by showing up. how often do you get a really good reason to kill someone.
also, yet another example why women should learn how to use a gun and carry it with them......there's not always other people around