By Hannah Meyer
I recently returned from two years of travelling the world with only my now very grubby backpack as a companion.
I could talk for hours about the magic of that time, but there were also moments when that magic turned to fear.
There was the moment a great hulk of a man forced his way into my room one night in New Delhi, India.
I was lucky; the fortuitous arrival of hotel staff saved me from any injury, but the man was allowed to stay in the hotel, bashing on my door, roaring demands that I go with him “to dinner”. I was terrified.
There was the moment I found myself charging down a back road at 5:00am in Ecuador to escape the leader of a meditation retreat, who requested a private meeting, whereupon he assaulted me with aggressively wandering hands.
Again, I escaped serious injury, but the experience left my heart beating too fast for what felt like days.
Then there have been all the men who stalked me — sometimes for hours — through foreign city streets; all the painful gropes and catcalls in buses or airport queues.
Some countries ‘offer too much risk’ for women on their own
The frequency with which women experience these kinds of violations during their travels led writer Lee Tulloch to argue in Traveller magazine this month that some countries “offer too much risk” for women visiting on their own.
“Stay well clear of countries where politicians and police notoriously blame the victim,” Tulloch advised her women readers.