# Are men required to protect any woman in his vicinity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 26, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-required-to-protect-any-woman-in-his-vicinity/973825 "2022-10-26T15:06:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-required-to-protect-any-woman-in-his-vicinity/973825/61 "2022-10-28T08:44:17Z")
One of my friends came to a guy’s rescue when a robber held a gun on him in a corner store. The guy filed criminal assault charges against my friend which luckily the prosecutor laughed at _after_ seeing the store video. The robber also filed a civil complaint which my friend (also luckily) won. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-required-to-protect-any-woman-in-his-vicinity/973825/62 "2022-10-29T18:35:35Z")
I’m guessing a lot of you never watched the video. It’s not a gang of women, it’s three women from the group. Two actually run away from the fight, one backs off so she doesn’t spill her drink and a third sits on top of the seatback to get away from the fight. She’s also kind enough to remove her mask to help in identification. As for women trained to fight that are going to beat the crap out of a man who interferes, I think that would be about 1% of the female population. And the advice to take a man down to the ground is possibly the worst advice I’ve ever seen on this board. Taking a heavier person to the ground is to be avoided at all costs. That’s where his size and weight are his biggest advantage. I’ve intervened twice, once on a subway once on the street. Both incidents ended quickly. No one ever sued me, no police ever arrested me, I never got stabbed or beat up by some super fighter, man or woman. I never even went to court as a witness. If you don’t feel confident intervening, by all means don’t. Call the police, film it or just back away. But if you could help, I think you should. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-required-to-protect-any-woman-in-his-vicinity/973825/63 "2022-10-31T20:47:02Z")
Personal anecdotes: I have on occasion offered a seat to pregnant women. And working at 7-Eleven, I frequently checked on a woman whose car had been hit by a deer, to make sure she was doing okay and that no one was bothering her. I have not yet been called upon to defend a woman against an attacker, however. I’m not sure how I would respond. I’m not very physically fit, and I’m a bit of a coward. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-required-to-protect-any-woman-in-his-vicinity/973825/64 "2022-10-31T20:53:15Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > That’s a brilliant cover for a mugging. I seem to recall a comic book or TV plot that involved bank robbers bringing a fake film crew to a heist so bystanders wouldn’t interfere. Yep. I would not interfere in this case due to that. Looks like performance art. I have done so several times, and not just to protect a female. > [@mordecaiB](#): > > If you don’t feel confident intervening, by all means don’t. Call the police, film it or just back away. But if you could help, I think you should. I concur. Is there an update on this bizarre incident? Who were those women? Why did they attack?? ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-required-to-protect-any-woman-in-his-vicinity/973825/65 "2022-10-31T21:06:29Z")
The usual stupid reason for a fight, someone bumped into one of them. Caught by, you guessed it, social media posts of themselves. Soon we can downsize police patrols. They’ll all sit inside watching twitter and Facebook for people posting their crimes for the whole world to see. > **[Suspect surrenders in NYC subway attack by group of women in neon green jumpers](https://www.police1.com/bizarre/articles/suspect-surrenders-in-nyc-subway-attack-by-group-of-women-in-neon-green-jumpers-RCuPiMyhsONtfLBC/)** > > An accidental bump on the Times Square North train platform set off the green-clad crew ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-required-to-protect-any-woman-in-his-vicinity/973825/66 "2022-11-02T00:05:40Z")
I’m surprised there isn’t more attention paid to the poster who talked about descalation and distraction. There are many ways to intervene that do not require fighting or trying to “break it up.” ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-required-to-protect-any-woman-in-his-vicinity/973825/67 "2022-11-14T04:56:01Z")
Ditto. However, 1. the screen-shot posted later in this thread make me think the situation was some kind of flash-mob social experiment to see how civilians would respond. I think I’d be looking for a hidden camera or distant film crew before getting involved. 2. I earned my 2nd and 3rd black belts with a female instructor so I’m not inclined to think females a) are inherently less skillful at combat b) are naturally weaker than me for lacking a Y chromosome. –Grestarian the wanderer [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-men-required-to-protect-any-woman-in-his-vicinity/973825.md?page=3)