On March 13 1964, 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was stabbed in New York outside an apartment building across the street from her home. 

After her death, it was claimed that 38 witnesses watched her murder and failed to intervene or even contact the police until after the attacker fled. This case led to research which coined the term ‘bystander’ and identified ‘the bystander effect’ (Darley, J. M.,Latané, B. (1968). It also motivated a community response, and the first Neighbourhood Watch scheme was set up.