Travel blogger Lucy was abused while in Germany. Photo courtesy of @absolutelylucy

by Sarah Woolley
03 November 2019

Travel blogger Lucy looked like she was living a fairytale romance overseas, but she was trapped in a violent relationship. Her case isn't unique.

It’s something I first looked into when my friend Katie* called me from Cambodia to tell me that – yet again – her ex-boyfriend had broken into her room and threatened to hurt her.

For Charlotte, the paralysis of figuring out what to do grew overwhelming when her boyfriend, Mike*, became violent after they met in Vietnam. As any veteran backpacker will attest, relationships on the road can become all-consuming incredibly quickly.

When Charlotte learned that she was unexpectedly pregnant, Mike reacted to the news by pushing her down a flight of concrete steps and locking her outside his flat. “I lost all my clothes, money, and traveller’s cheques,” she says. “I was terrified and I felt like I had literally nowhere to go.”

Everyone knew that her ex, Rick*, had become obsessive and violent, turning up wherever she went in Phnom Penh. But the friends she’d made – a group of party-loving human rights students – turned a blind eye.

But what really frightened Katie was how many British men in Cambodia felt they had nothing to hide when it came to hurting local women. In her article, ‘Calling Out Sexpats’, journalist Joanna Chiu writes how this attitude is partly driven by “a lack of accountability” for behaviour that “that could (or should)” have these men arrested in their home countries.

Katie eventually settled in the UK, but she fears Rick is waiting for her whenever she visits Cambodia.

full https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/evj8 ... ackpacking

Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: ↑Sun Nov 03, 2019 12:44 pm
by Sarah Woolley
03 November 2019

But the friends she’d made – a group of party-loving human rights students – turned a blind eye.

Uh-huh.

I didn't know you could get a degree in Human Rights. Could I do a double major along with Women's Studies?

I'm confused Charlotte, Lucy, Katie, Sarah...

However, I doubt that Lucy is a 'woman' who can be bullied - nahhhh.

Look here for pics of the 'lady'

https://www.instagram.com/absolutelylucy/

I think I prefer the Woolley one,

DaveG wrote: ↑Sun Nov 03, 2019 9:47 pm I think I prefer the Woolley one,

Not bad Dave....

However I think she needs her eyes testing at Grand Phnom Penh Optics if her tweet about 'Lucy' is anything to go by.

She even pinned the damn thing to cause me to reach for the bleach.

https://twitter.com/Sarah_Woolley

Well "Producer and host of a podcast for people with sight loss: Talking News"
The big problem is that the article is crap and most of it has nothing to do with the title

I don't understand why she deserves personal attacks on her appearance or accusations that she's talking crap. Abusive relationships happen while traveling and women bear the larger brunt of those situations. A few comments above speak volumes about the individuals who made them and offers a small insight into their rather neolithic ideas pertaining to women.