“Bryan I’m not comfortable with this.
Kim: Dad.
Bryan: I know the world, sweetie
Kim: Dad, please…
Bryan: I don’t think a seventeen-year-old should be traveling alone
Kim: I’m not gonna be alone.
Bryan: Two seventeen-year-olds
Kim: Amanda’s nineteen!
Bryan: How about this? How about if I go along…”
–Taken, 2008
Actor Liam Neeson captivated audiences with his “Dad of the Year” performance in the 2008 action film Taken. While it was certainly entertaining, the film highlighted the unfortunately realistic scenario in which two young women are captured into the illegal European sex slave trade. Although we do no necessarily hear about situations as extreme as this one and especially not dealt with in the glorified manner in which Neeson prevails, there are very real dangers that may arise when you travel abroad.
You may be convinced that these dangers are far less common than they are but be aware that these occurrences are far more prevalent in these days. What comes to mind is the recent case of Amanda Knox who was acquitted on Monday, October 3, 2011, on murder charges of her roommate during her study abroad experience in 2007. Knox, a former student of the University of Washington elected to go abroad to Perugia, Italy where she met her then boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. The couple and Perugia resident, Rudy Guede, were charged with the murder of Meredith Kercher, Knox’s British housemate. Knox had an alleged history as a provocateur with a tendency to gravitate towards men, attributed to her rocky relationship with her mother and mother’s much younger husband. While there seem to be endless possibilities of motives (Kercher’s refusal to participate in a sex game, robbery, jealousy), the evidence was severely lacking. After nearly 4 years of debate and incarceration, Knox and her alleged accomplice, Sollecito have been exonerated.
These two accounts although extreme are quite realistic and a reflection of the most fundamental dangers of traveling abroad. Taken is much more explicit in its message, reflecting the physical dangers for women who travel abroad and the Knox case, perceived from any angle, expresses a general need for awareness and safety. So while many of you consider the option of studying abroad in the winter of 2012, it is important that take necessary precautions. Learn about how you can keep yourself safe from the dangers abroad, whether it is Europe or any other continent. “Female students inevitably will have to fend off unwanted attention more than their male counterparts. And simply because your new surroundings will be unfamiliar to you, you need to be more vigilant than you would be on your home campus or in your hometown…much of staying safe abroad is common sense.” (http://www.iiepassport.org/pages/sitecontent/female.aspx)