Sexual Harassment and Assault
The following are some points to remember for any student traveling abroad:
- Be aware of how you dress as compared to your host culture. Even things as seemingly insignificant as smiling and your stride will mark you as a foreigner. Avoid looking like a stereotypical American; dressing conservatively can possibly help deflect potential harassers. In some countries, particularly Islamic ones, normal American female dress could be viewed as that of a prostitute.
- Try to avoid making eye contact with men in public places. In many parts of the world, meeting a man’s gaze is widely viewed as sexually provocative. You may be followed, verbally harassed and, as a result, touched.
- An effective way to avoid stares while on the subway is to read.
- Usually the best response to unwanted stares, comments, or touches, is to ignore the harasser and to remove yourself from the situation quickly and calmly. Although verbal responses often work, cursing your harasser in the local language or English may result in being struck. Avoidance is the safest tactic.
- If you continue to be followed, spoken to, or touched after repeated attempts to get away, try to remove yourself to a very public place. Tell your harasser firmly and calmly to leave you alone. Sometimes threatening to go to the police is effective, but sometimes the police are less than supportive.
- Do not judge the physical appearance of your local friends by American standards. You may be inclined to trust someone because he or she is nicely or fashionably dressed, well groomed, self-confident and outgoing. Sometimes, however, the most fashionable people are those who are the most skilled con-artists, or who make a mission of befriending Americans in order to gain money, goods, passports, or sex from them. Be wary of smooth operators!
Advice Especially for Women
What may be appropriate or friendly behavior in the U.S. may bring you unwanted, even dangerous, attention in another culture. Try not to take offense at whistles and other gestures, regardless of whether they are compliments, invitations, or insults. Realize these gestures are as much a part of the culture as its food, history, and language, but if your intuition tells you a situation is dangerous, then act as if it is. Be extra careful with giving your trust. This applies generally, but is especially important when traveling alone.
