Foreign women must be more careful, Goa chief says after ‘murder’

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Title – Foreign women must be more careful, Goa chief says after ‘murder’
Source – The Times
Date – 5th March 2008

Whatever the rights or wrongs of this tragedy we have to accept that risk and danger comes in many forms and understanding it, goes some way to making travel safer and reducing culture shock. It simply can not be totally safe and it is clear that 15 old Scarlett was the victim of an unforgivable violent crime and that the local police tried to cover up, for reasons that we may never know. But it would not be the first time no justice or justice that seems a little too swift for comfort, is passed in order to try and avoid negative publicity for the country or resort whose economies rely heavily on the tourist dollar.

Scarlett’s mother had to go to unacceptable lengths to simply get the truth acknowledged, a situation which for us in the UK seems wholly unacceptable and one that should lead to a national outcry. But this is Goa in India, not the UK. Ask the average Indian if they are surprised by the police actions and you will get a very different point of view expressed.

India has had to deal with a number of high profile similar cases over the past few years that should lead us to believe that this is far from an isolated case. Children missing from Indian families living in the slums and body parts turning up in the property of a wealthy and connected businessman being covered up, poor Indians being bullied into accepting small compensation rather than justice or simply being ignored, seem to be all too common place.

So what has this got to do with culture shock? Well culture shock is more than understanding local traditions, local religions and local customs. Culture shock at its very core is understanding, accepting and living in the local way of life, good and bad. Culture shock is the feeling you get when you step off the plane in Marrakesh walk out of the airport door and are hit by the heat wave and are surrounded by hundreds of willing cab drivers and porters offering to help you out of kindness, culture shock is realising that when you are walking down the beach in your bikini in the remoter parts of Thailand and the local fishermen point at you and laugh; culture shock is when you walk through Tiananmen Square in Beijing China and the kids ask to have their picture taken with you and laugh and call ‘big nose’; culture shock is when you travel through any part of Madagascar and on entering a town by road are expected to pay a bribe to the gendarmerie, police or army and when you leave that same town via a different route and have to pay another bribe to whichever of the aforementioned agencies has negotiated the road block at that point.

Unfortunately culture shock in its worst form is the difference in priorities some law enforcement authorities have and what they believe they can get away with and culture shock can be getting to terms with local crime and other dangers that you may be unfamiliar with at home.

Understanding the culture and local dangers is a good starting point is to making your journey safer. It can not prevent tragedy and violent crime is an unfortunate factor in some of the areas we choose to travel to, but it can reduce the risks. What we must do is understand the realities of the places we visit and not believe in the myths. Goa has a reputation as an old ‘hippie’ hang-out, beautiful beaches, relaxed atmosphere, placid friendly people and to some it still feels like a great place to go and relive the sixties drug culture. This leaves some people with the impression that it is all safe and is a throwback to the days when children walked to school and played freely on the streets, where it is safe to leave your doors unlocked and not to question people’s intentions and integrity. Unfortunately this is not the case. Scarlett was the victim of a violent crime, a crime that has devastated a family. Sometimes no amount of understanding will protect us, but other times having a better understanding of the places we visit will reduce the risks we face. But when it does go wrong, we can with a little help and support and by learning from Scarlett’s mothers courage, challenge the status quo and seek justice where sometimes there seems to be none.
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