Most people that go abroad to volunteer in another country
have a safe experience. While I cannot say if most volunteers
make a real difference with local people, one that is as
valuable to those local people as it is to the volunteer, or
if most volunteers are satisfied with their experience, I can
say that most volunteers that go abroad are never robbed,
assaulted or killed.
But those awful things do happen.
More than 1000 Peace Corps members, most of them women, have
been sexually-assaulted or killed in the 10 years between 2005
and 2015. The Peace
Corps has come under a great deal of criticism regarding
how it has handled the safety of its members, particularly
women, while they served abroad in that decade - and before. I
have been stunned at what I have heard from women who are
former Peace Corps members first hand, let alone what
I have seen in reports
on television shows like 20/20. I know of United Nations
Volunteers (UNV) who were robbed, harassed and worse while
serving, and many who were sexually harassed by colleagues,
but it never got talked about in any official UNV meeting I
was ever a part of, and I have no idea if UNV is better than
the Peace Corps in terms of volunteer safety.
Not saying you shouldn't volunteer with the Peace Corps or
UNV - just pointing out that bad things can happen, and
volunteer sending organizations don't always do what they are
supposed to.
Violence, robberies, harassment, even illness, are things
anyone who wants to volunteer abroad needs to be aware of and
to plan for.
Again, MOST volunteers abroad have a safe experience, but
remember that those who have a negative experience tend not to
blog about such or to be featured on the volunteer sending
organization's web site. MOST women have a great experience
serving in such a program, and some feel so safe the entire
time that they think safety precautions and talk of such are
overblown.
The reality is that there are MANY international
volunteering programs that are also at fault regarding how
they handle assaults on volunteers. The same is true of
international organizations that place paid staff - many have
poor, if largely unknown, track records regarding protecting
their staff while working abroad.
I am not at all attempting to tell you not to serve in an
international volunteering program. But I do think women in
particular need to take precautions to stay safe when serving
in an international volunteering program.
My advice on what you can do to better ensure your safety
abroad:
- Before you apply for any volunteering program, you have
to be the kind of person who knows how to explicitly
express to your volunteering sending agency, in the most
decisive terms, when you feel unsafe, and why you feel
unsafe. You have to go beyond saying, "I feel unsafe." You
have to provide specifics: "When I go to so-and-so's office,
he comments about my figure, looks at my breasts and says
how happy I must make my husband."
- Carry the address and phone number of your country's
consulate or embassy that is nearest to you (or where you
will be) while working abroad AT ALL TIMES. If you get a
cell phone in the country, put those phone numbers on speed
dial. Always, always be able to find that number.
- Carry money on two different places on your person.
Consider wearing a small, discreet money belt under your
shirt, or a bra purse that attaches to a bra strap, and
having some of your money in it, as well as critical info.
And remember that there is NO WHERE you can hide money in
your room where someone cannot find it. If you must leave
money in your room, by all means, make it hard to find,
something someone will have to spend time to look for to get
(that means do NOT leave it in any luggage or purse).
- Absolutely insist on being in a home or accommodations
where the doors and windows of where you will sleep can be
locked/blocked - or where, if someone were coming through a
window, you could hear that person even when you are dead
sleep and you have
another exit.
- Read as much as you can before you go to a particular
country -- and seek out women authors as much as possible,
because men can sometimes gloss over cultural and safety
concerns that women need to be very, very aware of. I
suggest you purchase and read the Lonely Planet guide
for the country where you will go, particularly the sections
on safety and the police. Lonely Planet books offer
tips specifically for women, tailored for each country, as
well.
- Become aware of cultural differences, specifically that
pertain to attitudes toward women (especially American women
or any Western women), and to single or divorced women (if
you are such). I'm sad to say you can pretty much assume
it's dangerous in any developing country where you will be
serving to reveal that you are gay - and if someone tells
you that he or she is gay, you need to still be VERY
cautious, as that person may at some point feel the need to
reveal your sexuality to others to distract them from their
secret.
- Always be aware of the people around you. Know who is
behind you and beside you, on public transport, in a
restaurant, in the lobby of a hotel, at a museum, and on and
on. It doesn't have to be a scary thing - it can actually
really enhance your experience, help you to be all the more
present. Don't get lost staring at your smart phone. If you
are going to listen to music, don't read as well. Reading a
book in public is fine, but you need to regularly look up
and around.
- When traveling alone, don't be the only woman in a train
car. If you are on a bus, and you are a woman, sit with a
woman or a group of women or a family (they will sometimes
"adopt" you for the trip - by all means strike up a
conversation with the kids or the women!), or as near the
driver as possible. If you are a woman, do not get in a
mini-bus or any other transportation except maybe a
fully official, registered cab that does not have other
women traveling.
- Avoid driving or traveling at night. That's not only to
keep you from being victimized; it's also a great way to
substantially reduce your chances of being in a road
accident.
- If you have to wait for a bus or a train alone, either
find a group to stand near, or stand in a well-populated
restaurant or business until it's almost time for the bus or
train to arrive, or stand where a train station worker can
see you. NEVER stand there alone listening to your MP3
player or radio or whatever in both ears, even in day time.
- Avoid sitting or walking in empty areas (empty train car
or an empty street), no matter what time of day.
- Don't assume men in uniform are automatically safer than
men not in uniform.
- In some countries - and this can include the USA - walking
in a crowd, as a woman, means your breasts or ass is going
to get grabbed at least once, or someone is going to rub his
pelvis against you. It's gross, it's humiliating, and if you
know "Do not touch me!" in the local language, by all means,
yell it out forcefully. But then walk right on - the last
thing you want is to get encircled by a group of angry men
or boys. Your best bet: avoid crowds where you will come in
body-to-body contact with men.
- Be able to say these phrases calmly but forcefully and
clearly to anyone - supervisors, fellow volunteers,
local people, host family members, etc. (rehearse them!):
- "I am not going to ride with you/in that van. I will
need a different way of getting there."
- and, regarding transportation or accommodations "That
is not acceptable, because the door doesn't lock/the van
is full of men and I will be the only woman/this
arrangement makes me uncomfortable and feel unsafe/etc.
Instead, I will need..."
- and "I see that you are offended, and I did not say
this to offend you, but I will not get in that car/ride
on your scooter/stay here tonight, etc."
- and "That is unacceptable. No."
- You need to know how to remove yourself from any
situation where you feel unsafe -- and that can mean every
thing from walking out of an event or away from someone you
are working with and arranging your own transportation back
to a place where you DO feel safe, to leaving your host
family and staying in a guest house with a locked door, to
abandoning your assignment, leaving the village, and leaving
the country - and knowing how to arrange transportation
yourself to do that. Have your own escape plan in case the
volunteer sending agency goes silent or doesn't take your
pleas for help seriously. Your safety is ALWAYS more
important than any worries you have about your career
aspirations.
- Never be afraid of being impolite if you feel that
someone is stepping over your boundaries. And do not let
ANYONE guilt you into doing something that makes you feel
uncomfortable, whether it's coming into a shop or sharing a
meal or talking to them or not calling your volunteer
sending agency to complain. If someone calls your behavior
insulting because you cut them off or walked away or said
something that hurt their feelings in your quest to be safe,
too bad.
- Do not assume that your fellow volunteers are trustworthy
merely because they are also volunteering.
- Take self-defense classes before departure. This can help
you feel more assertive, even if you never use these skills.
- Never get drunk in a public place, and never let local
people (and, for women, don't let even other men from your
program) see you drunk. And when drinking with friends in
private, pour the drink yourself, or watch the drink being
poured. If someone brings you a drink, accidentally drop it
and go yourself to get another.
- If anyone threatens you, or you simply feel threatened,
get an escort (other TRUSTED volunteers, or someone from
your host organization that you TRUST, or a group of old
women) to walk with you in public at ALL times, until you
feel the threat has passed.
- Get a burner phone. In the address book of that phone,
input all essential family phone numbers, the phone number
of your country's embassy in the country, close friends that
could help you in an emergency. If your very nice smart
phone is stolen, you will have this as a backup.
- Upload photos, audio files and other info that documents
threats or harassment to a secure place on the cloud or the
laptops of very trusted colleagues, to protect yourself if
your phone is every stolen or law enforcement demands the
phone. You could even send them all to a friend back home,
for safekeeping on his or her own computer.
- Email and call your volunteer sending agency every
day, even every hour, if you feel threatened,
documenting the threats and unsafe circumstances in vivid
detail, and tell them to GET YOU TO A PLACE OF SAFETY. Post
about it as well on social media every day that no action is
taken by your volunteer sending agency. Continue to do so
until action is taken or they pay your expenses to leave or
you need to leave on your own. Make sure these dispatches
have been saved somewhere that the volunteer sending agency,
your host family or anyone else could never delete them, but
your own family back home could access them if needed.
- Think, seriously and deliberately, before departure, and
after arrival in country, about what you would do if you
were sexually assaulted. Whom you would call first? Whom
would you call next? Where you would go immediately? How
would you ask for help? Make sure calling the emergency
number of your embassy is in those steps you imagine, and do
NOT let any police officer, agency representative or friend
talk you out of making that call. Imagine the plan in your
mind, clearly, and may you never, ever have to follow that
plan.
- Get insurance that will get you out of the country in
case of illness or injury, especially if your volunteer
sending organization does not provide such insurance. You
may also want to get insurance that will get your remains
out of the country if you die - while no one likes to think
about worst-case scenarios, such insurance is surprisingly
affordable and your family will be incredibly grateful for
it (if they know about it - make sure they know about it).
- Ask your volunteer sending organization if they have ever
had to evacuate a volunteer and what the circumstances were
for that evacuation (illness? violence? an arrest? a coup?).
Ask if they have a procedure, in writing, for evaluating
volunteers in the case of illness, violence, a coup, etc.,
and ask for more info. And create your own evaluation plan:
if you suddenly heard a mob outside the front of your work
space, screaming, what would you do? How would you sneak out
of the building? Who would you go to for temporary shelter?
Who and how would you call for help, other than your own
country's embassy? How would you get to the airport? Should
you have a stash of clothing you could put on so that you
blend in more with locals? Think about it, imagine it,
rehearse it in your mind. You may even want to take a course
in how to handle such crisis situations - they are
expensive, but thorough. I will say that I know of an
administrative assistant at UNV in Germany who coordinated
the evacuation of a UN Volunteer from Congo many years ago -
somehow, he got through to her, when he couldn't get through
to anyone else, and she had the resources to find a place
where he could go and be protected by foreign troops until
he could connect with the authorities evaluating UN
Volunteers. So calling someone in another country is
sometimes the best way to get out of the situation you are
in.
Your safety supersedes your volunteer commitment -
if you are under threat, do what you need to do to get away
from that threat if your volunteer-sending organization / host
organization isn't responding appropriately.
And if the worst happens, despite all your precautions,
please don't blame yourself. There are people that flaunt all
of the aforementioned rules and never have a problem. There
are people that do all of the aforementioned, and more, and
the worst happens. Get counseling and get medical treatment
and seek out people that will help you get through this.
Here are lots more
thoughts about health & safety for USA women traveling,
abroad or in the USA, and here's information specific to going
abroad during global pandemics (or to be ready if such
should break out while you are abroad - COVID19 won't be the
last).
You can read a very similar page of advice
from the US State Department for people that want to
volunteer abroad. Very similar... mine was before
theirs... hmmm...
The CDC Yellow Book: Health Information for
International Travel, last updated in 2020 (before
the COVID-19 pandemic), is published every two years as a
resource for health professionals providing care to
international travelers. The fully revised and updated CDC
Yellow Book compiles the US government’s most current travel
health guidelines, including pretravel vaccine
recommendations, destination-specific health advice, and
easy-to-reference maps, tables, and charts. It's
available free online. Have a read if you want further
guidance on what to pack. Chapter
9 is all about health care for aid workers traveling abroad.
As the site notes, "Humanitarian service can have an adverse
effect on personal health. Studies of long-term humanitarian
workers indicate that >35% report a deterioration in their
personal health during the mission." It also
has advice for the Business Travelers,
for Aircrews, for Long-Term
Travelers & Expatriates, for Study
Abroad & Other International Student Travel, for Adventure
Travel, and more (including advice for Sex
& Travel).
Also see:
- Vetting Organizations in Other
Countries
A resource that can help you evaluate volunteer-placement
organizations that charge you for your placement as a
volunteer, as well as for people interested in partnering or
supporting an organization abroad but wanting to know it's a
credible organization, that it's not some sort of scam, or
an 'organization' of just one person.
- Volunteering
Internationally
Times have changed drastically in the last 30 years
regarding Americans and other "westerners" volunteering in
other countries. The emphasis in local relief and
development efforts is to empower local people, and to hire
local people, whenever possible, to address their own
issues, build their own capacities, and give them
employment. This strategy is much more beneficial to local
communities than to bring in an outside volunteer. That said
-- the days of international volunteers are NOT numbered:
there will always be a need for international volunteers,
either to fill gaps in knowledge and service in a local
situation, or because a more neutral observer/contributor is
required. This new page provides tips on gaining the skills
and experience that are critically needed to volunteer
overseas.
- Volunteering To Help
After Major Disasters
Whenever a disaster strikes, hundreds -- even thousands --
of citizens in the USA start contacting various
organizations in an effort to try to volunteer onsite at the
disaster site. But what many of these people don't realize
is that spontaneous volunteers with no training and no
affiliation can actually cause more problems than they
alleviate in a disaster situation, particularly regarding
disaster locations far from their home. If you want to be a
part of the mobilization for a future disaster, here are
tips to help you get into "the system," get training, and be
in a position to make a real difference.
- The
realities of voluntourism: use with caution
Voluntourism is really awful and really good. I'm totally
against it and I support it. Confused yet? This opinion
piece is my attempt to explain why voluntourism
sometimes works and why, very often, it's dreadful.
- Hosting International Volunteers
More and more local organizations in developing countries
are turning to local expertise, rather than international
volunteers, to support their efforts. However, the need for
international volunteers remains, and will for many, many
years to come. This resource provides tips for local
organization in a developing countries interested in gaining
to international volunteers.
- transire
benefaciendo: "to travel along while doing good."
Advice for those wanting to make their travel more than
sight-seeing and shopping.
- In October 2019, someone wrote to Energize
asking: I am specifically looking for information on laws
regarding virtual volunteers. If a volunteer living
in one state is a virtual volunteer for a nonprofit in
another state, which state’s laws protect the volunteer
should a legal issue arise. Energize asked me to
respond and I
did in this blog.
- How to Get a Job with
the United Nations or Other International Humanitarian
or Development Organization
Return
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