We’re loving the response of prominent female travel bloggers to the recent upsurge of the old solo-female-travel-is-too-dangerous line.
Both Jodi Ettenberg (Legal Nomads) and Stephanie Yoder (Twenty-Something Travel) posted about the fallacy in the argument that solo travel was to blame for the recent death of an American woman in Istanbul–or, as one commenter put it: “My wife taking a solo trip these days? Not way in hell.” (Don’t you wish you were his wife? Or his copy editor?)
By blaming the victim of the crime, these responses implicitly condone violence against women. Or as Jodi put it:
[B]eing “alone” is not the issue. Travel abroad is not the issue. The issue is treatment of women.
But we’re not alone ladies; these knee-jerk reactionary comments also smack of anti-Muslim sentiment (funny, considering Turkey isn’t a Muslim state) and xenophobia (“anywhere east of Italy is dangerous”). Big ups to Jodi and Stephanie for calling out all three.
It’s invigorating to see women across the world, from the blogosphere to the streets, tackling this issue full-on.
As women in India recently said:
Thoughts, prayers and love to the family of Sarai Sierra.
