"some how it works out. "
Not always, and I think that's one of the many points "Hewby" was making in starting this thread with her excellent post. If it's somehow always worked out for you, and you haven't been robbed or raped, traveling or not, great for you. Chalk it up to making good choices AND good luck on your side. But remember that people who have been raped or otherwise traumatized while traveling tend not to blog about it or do a presentation at Horizons Unlimited about it- even though they were aware of their surroundings and did their best at risk assessment, something horrific happened to them and it most certainly didn't work out for them. And remember that they may have been just as cautious as you were - and they still got targeted.
Women's safety is a really difficult thing to talk about, because it seems like the speaker is either branded as being overly cautious / being a fear-monger, or is being unrealistic and flippant about the very real possibilities of being harmed - there's no inbetween. Travel safety shouldn't mean feeling ever-restricted or continually afraid or never taking risks, but it also shouldn't mean "Hey, just pay attention and do whatever you want to do and it will all work out", because sometimes, no matter how many precautions you take, you get targeted - and I'm getting really tired of hearing about how the American woman raped while traveling in a mini bus in Rio a few days ago, or the Swiss woman that was gang raped while camping in India, were at fault for their own brutalizations. Some of the choices they made are choices *I've* made while traveling.
I've been to Egypt twice, pre-Spring uprising, and had no scary incidents whatsoever. I have a friend who traveled near the same time and had her breasts grabbed and some rather horrible things said to her about what various people wanted to do to her. Was I more aware or dressed more appropriately than she was? Or was I luckier? If you hear both of us tell about our experience, me saying "I felt perfectly safe" and her saying "I was terrified," who is "right"? I think we both are. And that's what can be SO frustrating about safety - there's no one answer, no magic bullet, that will absolutely, positively, keep you safe - so much of it can be just about being lucky.
I have a colleague who spent two months in Morocco. She had a wonderful time - until the day before she left, when she was gang raped while waiting for a bus. What did she do that day, or not do that day, different from the other 50 or so days she had been there? Nothing. What's the lesson here - don't go to Morocco? Don't go to Morocco for more than 57 days?
Knowing the risks, reading horror stories and listening to a few first hand accounts, I still travel abroad. I do it because I hunger for the payoff of traveling. I know that there are risks right here in the Portland area (which, if you watch the local news, is apparently on the verge of anarchy in terms of crime), therefore *not* traveling doesn't necessarily make me safer. While traveling, I make the best choices I can, and I hope in the moment that they are the right ones - and that I have a lot of luck on my side. I read accounts of crime in other countries and, when I go there, try to have those in mind. So far, the risk has been worth it. I hope it always is.
More of my thoughts about safety for women travelers.
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