It has been said that female solo travel is a huge problem in today’s world. However, is it true? Is it logical enough to put the journey of a woman to a foreign country under scrutiny just because she is travelling alone? Is it? Really? Well, it is not. There are scores of issues that make people think this way, but women wandering around unaccompanied is definitely not one of them. Here are a few things that mislead worldwide people to such a false impression:
Xenophobia
It is all about the media and its bizarre contribution to the society that has resulted into such an irrational fear among women about foreign peoples or strangers. Media always try to prove that the world is a frightening place, especially for females, to travel around, and that is the reason behind the dangers associated with women solo travellers. However, it is not the act of travelling abroad but the hype related to it that is scary in reality. As long as you are a normal woman with enough brainpower, you do not need to worry about whether the rest of world is a safe place for you or not. No single nation is inherently dangerous. It is all about the ‘fear of the unknown’, literally.
Double Standards
Have you ever find a reliable statistic on the number of male and female travellers who were murdered abroad? Though it is tough to find the perfect information regarding this, majority of travellers agree that it is men who are more likely to be killed during their trips. According to different studies conducted at varied times, women remain more careful and cautious while travelling than their male counterparts, which helps them avoid many insecure circumstances. However, it does not mean that female solo travel is completely safe. What I’m trying to say is that you can stay perfectly safe and secure unless and until you are getting unaware of the happenings around you and acting completely dumb. In other words, it’s not only females who go through such situations. Males can also face the same as well.
Violence
The last but the most important thing is the violence against females, which acts as one of the biggest problems. When something awful happens to those people who are apparently above suspicion, we start convincing ourselves that the same cannot happen to us and it was completely the faults of the victims. It is not travelling that kills a woman but she can be beaten, raped or murdered anywhere in the world, and the reason behind it is the violence against her. Nothing else.
Hence, it can be said that the world is scary sometimes. Nevertheless, it’s people, not the event of solo travel that makes it terrifying for females.