Kitty Genovese

Kitty Genovese case of a woman in New York who was attacked in full view of her neighbors in the evening, then followed into an apartment while she continued to scream as she was being killed. People pulled their shades and did nothing. The case became synonymous with the problem of people not willing to be involved when a crime is taking place, even if someone is being killed.

The case also calls to attention how speech can incite violence. Some organizations declare that the atmosphere created by hate-mongering in speech, and the negative attitudes towards gays, creates incidents where individuals will use a word like homosexual to incite negative response and provoke a fight.


The incident occurred outside a grocery story in the inner city of Washington DC. Several youth were fighting. Jose Sanchez was struck, then fell and hit his head on a van parked near the curb. He lay on the sidewalk a full 20 minutes before someone reported what happened. The assailant, whose name was not disclosed at the time of CNN’s early report, has maintained that he slugged Sanchez because Sanchez called him a homosexual. Sanchez was reported dead shortly after being taken by ambulance to the hospital.