BY BOBBY HALTON
On March 13, 1964, there was a terrible murder in Queens, New York: A young woman was stabbed to death while dozens of citizens stood by and did nothing. The young woman’s name was Catherine “Kitty” Genovese. The 28-year-old Genovese was coming home from work; as she approached her apartment building, she was brutally attacked and stabbed to death.
Despite Kitty’s repeated cries for help, none of the 38 people in the nearby apartment buildings who could hear her calling out desperately as she struggled even called the police. The police estimate that it took more than 20 minutes for anyone to do anything to help poor Kitty Genovese, and by then it was too late. That incident was one of the saddest days in the history of New York.
I was reminded of that horrible story this week when I received an e-mail from an accomplished veteran female firefighter who was being harassed by an egotistical former chief of hers. According to the e-mail, even after driving her from his organization he still felt compelled to torment her and try to disrupt her life and ruin her career.
It sounded like harassment of the worst type to me. She stated in her e-mail that, among other things, he had repeatedly stated that he felt women should not be firefighters. After forcing her to leave his organization, he still continued his vendetta against her and other female firefighters.
Unfortunately, ignorance of this type still continues in our proud profession. I would have thought it was an isolated incident, but I have received a lot of e-mails like hers and have too many female firefighter friends who have shared similar stories with me to believe it is not happening far too regularly.
I have had male firefighter friends who have made similarly stupid statements but never acted in any way to interfere with someone’s right to work and be respected. Several of these guys now—after having worked together with a few female firefighters—would deny they ever felt that way, and I am sure they would be telling the truth.
I’m sure that every male firefighter reading this article at one time or another heard someone say something like “Women do not belong in the fire service” or “Women cannot do the job.” I wonder if, like me, like my fellow New Yorkers who heard Kitty, they too failed to do anything to help.
There might be an explanation, not an excuse, why good people, caring people, and thoughtful people fail to do what is right and what is necessary 100 percent of the time. This type of behavior is what psychologists call the “bystander effect.” Psychologists have found that the more people who witness an event, the less likely it is that anyone will act. They have found that when we are alone we tend to respond immediately, recognizing that only we can do something to stop whatever bad thing is going on. But when people are in groups, far fewer of them react to the same exact stimulus. Psychologists believe there may be two reasons for this. First, when we are in a crowd, we assume someone else will do something. We diffuse or spread out the responsibility to act among the crowd in our minds. Second is the natural tendency of people to follow the crowd, so if no one is reacting then we do not react. Basically, we all want to fit in or be accepted.
The International Association of Women in Fire & Emergency Services (iWomen) published a report in April 2009 called “A National Report Card on Women in Firefighting.” The report is based on a survey of 675 male and female firefighters in 48 states, in 114 departments, and in-depth interviews with 175 female firefighters (available at http://www.i-women.org). The report raises some very troubling issues for all of us. It provides some very good information about the need to do more regarding what the report calls “gender inclusion.”
The report is a must-read for all firefighters; it is not perfect. Two of the authors are civil rights lawyers, which may explain the report’s tendency to continually refer to legal processes for improving conditions, a position I would hold as a tool of last resort. That aside, there is much to be discussed, learned, and understood from what is presented in this report.
The report identified the two most important areas we should focus on to improve overall job satisfaction for female firefighters. First, we must respond to incidents in the workplace involving discrimination, harassment, and exclusion immediately—that means me and you, especially supervisors—and not by falling back on “because policy says so” but because we care about doing the right thing. Second, we must ensure that everyone is treated fairly in hiring, assignments, and promotions.
The fire service must be a profession where all have equal access to opportunity and can work without threat. How we choose to manage inclusion matters. Only more division and exclusion will result if we unwisely choose to use weapons and threats. There are better ways, smarter methods. I will not be a bystander any longer. I was raised better. “There is a seat at our table for everyone who is hungry,” my Mom used to say. There are no innocent bystanders in the fire service, just those who choose to do the right thing and those who don’t.
