On camaraderie

The rape and death of Jill Meagher in the last fortnight has brought to our attention some things we take for granted in Australia: that it’s not safe in the streets late at night when you’re walking home on your own, especially if you’re a woman. Now, lets assume that we have only just realised this, what now? Yes, we could focus in about how unfair it is that a bad person went and hurt an innocent woman, or focus in about Australia become more unsafe than we previously thought it was. But I wonder if this realisation could in fact serve to inspire positive change, and in fact inspire something that becomes ingrained into our culture and our human social conscience: camaraderie.

When we realised that climbing mountains was dangerous, we went on to recommend spotters. We have spotters when we bench-press weights. We recommend hiking partners. Essentially most activities and sports that have an inherent sense of danger in it make use of the “buddy system”, where one or more people in a group mutually monitor and assist each other. Now, in some cultures the concept of mutually caring and helping the other doesn’t need a name, it is a social expectation. Looking after and caring about and for our friends is a social responsibility most people take on themselves even if they weren’t directly taught it by schools or families. But perhaps the time has come for us to be actively teaching this concept, maybe even as a (social) health promotion strategy.

There are some places in the world that have a higher incidence of crime than others, but even in the “safest” of places, there are still times when crime is more likely to occur than others. A lot of violent crimes happen at night. A lot of crime occurs where they are lots of people gathered. A lot of crime occurs in the context of alcohol or drugs… And so finally back to why Jill Meagher’s tragic story made me think of all this. Of course she did not deserve what happened to her. And of course none of the friends she went out with did anything wrong; they only did what seemed normal to them. And my proposition is that we as a society promote a new kind of normal. Her friends may have offered to take her home and she may politely refused, but rather than place blame on anyone other than the criminal that killed her, I propose we learn from this story and make some changes to prevent other people suffering the same fate as this woman. Lets make camaraderie as common as going out and having a fun time with your friends. Lets promote a social responsibility amongst people, friends we go out for a drink and a laugh with at least. Have it as a rule, even if it’s no longer an instinct in our society, that we care for the people we hang out with when we go out.  That we care from the minute they leave to go hang out with us, and that we care enough also to ensure they get back home safely.