'Here, I'll use this as a mask': Man wipes nose on Oakland County worker who asked him to wear mask

[csziggy]

25. My memory from the self defense course is that help or rape does NOT get a response

But FIRE does, or did back then.

I believe it is called the Kitty Genovese or Bystander Effect. Unless an event will affect people personally, if there are other witnesses, they don't response to a need for help. A fire will affect everyone in the vicinity while a call for help or rape does not threaten someone who does not respond.

Bystander Effect

What Is the Bystander Effect?

The bystander effect occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is for any one of them to provide help to a person in distress. People are more likely to take action in a crisis when there are few or no other witnesses present.

Social psychologists Bibb Latané and John Darley popularized the concept of the bystander effect following the infamous murder of Kitty Genovese in New York City in 1964. The 28-year-old woman was stabbed to death outside her apartment, neighbors failed to step in to assist or call the police. Latané and Darley attributed the bystander effect to the perceived diffusion of responsibility (onlookers are less likely to intervene if there are other witnesses who seem likely to do so) and social influence (individuals monitor the behavior of those around them to determine how to act).

How To Be An Active Bystander

The social and behavioral paralysis described by the bystander effect can be reduced with awareness and in some cases explicit training. Secondary schools and college campuses encourage students to speak up when witnessing an act of bullying or a potential assault. One technique is to act as if one is the first or only person witnessing a problem. Often when one person take action, if only to shout, "Hey what's going on?" or "The police are coming," others may be emboldened to take action as well. That said, an active bystander is most effective when they assume that they themselves are the sole person taking charge; giving direction to other bystanders to assist can therefore be critically important.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/bystander-effect

Also, see: https://study.com/academy/lesson/defining-the-bystander-effect-kitty-genovese-murder-research-by-latane-and-darley.html

While some recent studies in other countries show a different crowd psychologies outside of the USA, at the time I took the self defense course in the 1970s, this WAS the advice given women.