Quote from Harald A. Friedl on 16. March 2021, 12:22

Quote from Natascha Dockal on 15. March 2021, 13:40

But I personally also think that, especially on the occasion of International Women's Day, you can think about how safe a tourist destination is for women. The case of Sarah Everard in particular is currently causing an unrest in the UK:

The 33-year-old British woman Sarah Everard was reported missing on 03.03. when she disappeared on her way home. A police officer is considered an urgent suspect who is said to have abducted and killed Sarah. Violence and murder of a woman by a representative of the system that is supposed to protect women. The case causes a sensation and rightly so. Who among us women doesn't know it - a key between the fingers on the way home in the evening to be able to fight back; pepper spray and/or a pocket alarm ready to hand; the fear when someone walks behind you; the fake phone call; the "I arrived home safely" message; the fear... and yet there are always voices saying that women have to be careful, that they are the ones to blame for assaults, that they even have themselves to blame if they leave the house alone late at night. It is apparently easier to blame the "victim" than to take action against the perpetrators....

Such an image can cause considerable damage to the tourism destination, because which woman feels safe when female murders, rape and kidnapping are not so rare in the region? To conclude, I believe that the protection of women, the simultaneous education of men, targeted measures for equality and monitoring of the measures to a safe travel destination that is also attractive for women traveling alone is essential.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-56399410

Dear Natascha,
certainly, safety is a fundamental issue in tourism. We habe just right now a global safety issue which led to a complete collaps of gobal tourism.
And there is no big difference about the background of a specific threat: Tourists want to feel in paradise if the visit a destination, no matter which sex they have.
And I agree that  aggression and sexual harassment or even violation leads potentially to a fundamental damage to the positive image of a destination.

What I am not so sure about is your conclusion: Already in other posts I have critically commented to much ethusiasm about education. Behaviour is much more complex, and education is much more than just discussion an issue, or learning rules.
I love very much the old chinese saying "Carry a big cudgel and speak softly". The best protection is personal preparation - in addition to interventions such as education and training, social measures, job creation, drug control etc. But if a person is not able to show its strong will to defend him- or herself... And belive me, I know what I am talking about. I was that type of nerdy student in my teens when I got attacked by people even smaller then me. But since I have learned and trained boxing, I was never attacked again. I was threatended, yes, but due to my convincing pose of convincing defence, they all did as withdrawal...
I am voting for strong women who are able to defend themself, AND I am voting for strong social, legal and cultural structures which make the comptetence for self-defence to a nice, but only potentially necessary tool for women...