Reluctant Heroes !

Dozens of people witnessed an event that happened on a busy Liverpool street at 4-30 in the afternoon. " Aida " - a young woman too scared to reveal her surname - was waiting to cross the road opposite the  railway station when a red car carrying several men pulled up beside her.   One of the men - a complete stranger - got out and ordered her to get in the car.   She refused - and he grabbed her by the wrist and attempted to force her into the car.

Wisely, she resisted and began to scream for help.  The struggle ended when this man released her, jumped back in the car and it roared away.   Aida was astonished that despite this happening in the full view of a great number of people, not a single person made even the slightest attempt to come to her aid.

Welcome to the world that Sydney has become !    The fact that this happened in broad daylight in a busy street was one of the factors that would deter heroes from coming to the rescue.  To most people, this would appear to be a " domestic " - a tiff between a man and his wife or girl friend - and that would be a dangerous situation in which to intervene.   They would assume that either may be affected by drugs or alcohol and in many such circumstances it is the well meaning person seeking to help that ends up getting bashed.

Unfortunately, this incident illustrates the vulnerability of women to be abducted in plain sight on a busy street.   A bold attacker can rely on any altercation between a man and a woman being regarded as some sort of " domestic " incident - and provided no extreme violence is used - ignored by most people. Strangely, if the same thing happened at night in a more secluded area, many people would respond differently.  The unlikelihood of a brazen abduction happening in a crowd of people works in the attacker's favour.

Hopefully, this incident will result in a successful conclusion.   Aida gave a very good description of her attacker and this busy street scene is well covered by cctv cameras.   We have seen how the police use this coverage to track down street thugs who bash innocent victims in areas like Kings Cross and there is every chance that this " red car " may be the attackers undoing.

At least Aida's response can be a lesson for other women experiencing a similar situation.   She survived that attack by vigorously resisting - and by making plenty of noise.   While nobody came to her assistance her screams caused the attacker to desist - and flee.