Be cautious and aware..

[hannstew]

This is a travel advise from my company. Stay aware of your surroundings.

Argentina: Attack on Australian tourist underlines persistent risk of crime


A female Australian national on 29 December was discovered in an injured state after being reported missing for several days; the woman did not return from a hiking tour of Cajón del Azul, a popular tourist site located near the town of El Bolsón in Río Negro province. The authorities stated that the traveller had been attacked by an unidentified assailant near the isolated La Playita section of the trail; reports suggest that she had been sexually assaulted. According to local media reports, one person has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Comment and Analysis
Although the circumstances of the attack are unclear, the incident illustrates that crime remains the main security threat for foreign visitors throughout the country. While crime rates are highest in major urban centres, rural areas have also witnessed an increase in crime. This trend has been fuelled, in particular, by economic difficulties, drug abuse and the widespread availability of illegal firearms. However, while levels of violent crime are rising, business travellers are more likely to be at a risk of falling victim to opportunistic robbery.
While foreigners are, in general, not specifically targeted, there have been instances of violent crime against visitors in the past. In July, two female French nationals were killed near the northern city of Salta (Salta province); one of them was also sexually assaulted. The incident is believed to have occurred when the victims were hiking in the Quebrada de Villa San Lorenzo area, a tourist site located close to Salta.

 

[Lucas]

This is very true not only in Argentina but anywhere were a young female backpacker is unaccompanied in a desolated area you must be aware of the consequences of your actions, be this in a first, third or fourth rated world country, even if you are with a companion it could be dangerous in a isolated area....it's common sense really.

See Ivan Milat, frighten stuff....

 

[Bajo_cero2]

i agree. I go to Patagonia since i was a teenager and this awful situation this girl suffered was a little of bad luck and a huge lack of common sense. It has nothing to do with criminality since this is the first time something like this happend there. Regards

 

[Davidglen77]

I really hope that the people on this board have the intelligence NOT to blame this young lady for what happened to her. I really really HATE when people blame the victim, and that is what she is. Everybody knows that in today's world they have to take precautions WHEREVER you are, including the forest, campsite, city, you name it. Unfortunately she wasn't as careful as she could have been, but who here hasn't let down their guard at one time or another? Please let's wish this young lady a full physical and emotional recovery, and learn from this unfortunate incident. Never blame the victim of a crime, it's the WORST thing you can do for them and for you.

 

[perry]

Firstly let me say that Argentina is a very safe country for these types of crimes . In the state of Rio Negro and the beautiful town of El Bolson there has never been any crimes before ( rape) of foreign tourists. This has shocked the town as it is a peaceful paradise .

Lucas is right about Australia as it more dangerous for serious crimes than Argentina and there rates of rape and violent crimes towards tourists are higher per capita.

Argentina is worse for petty crimes ( robbery) but rape and murder of visitors is amongst the lowest in the world per capita.

In 6 years here the only case I heard about was the tragic case of the two french girls in Salta. In Buenos Aires I do not know of one expat or visitor that has been murdered .

 

[Lucas]

I really hope that the people on this board have the intelligence NOT to blame this young lady for what happened to her. I really really HATE when people blame the victim, and that is what she is. Everybody knows that in today's world they have to take precautions WHEREVER you are, including the forest, campsite, city, you name it. Unfortunately she wasn't as careful as she could have been, but who here hasn't let down their guard at one time or another? Please let's wish this young lady a full physical and emotional recovery, and learn from this unfortunate incident. Never blame the victim of a crime, it's the WORST thing you can do for them and for you.

David, no one is blaming the victim here is a caution and reminder to other people particularly women to be cautious when contemplating something like this, when you are young you feel invincible and tend to think that nothing is going to happen to you. This young lady was alerted of the dangers of trekking alone but she decided to go anyway. This is only an alert call that when you bush walking careless in a foreign country it can be quite dangerous, does not matter which country you are in, weird crazy people could be crossing you anywhere and you should be prepared.

 

[jez]

A terrible thing that happened in such a quiet town, been there twice recently trekking in the mountains and it's a beautiful place.

Today in the Clarin it said she wasnt raped: http://www.clarin.com/policiales/Ahora-dicen-turista-australiana-violada_0_620938107.html and in response to the first post that said one person had been arrested,yes someone was but was released without charge.

 

[xohmyx]

Lucas is right about Australia as it much more dangerous for serious crimes than Argentina and there rates of rape and violent crimes towards tourist are much higher per capita.

Argentina is worse for petty crimes ( robbery) but rape and murder of visitors is amongst the lowest in the world per capita.

Hello,
As an australian i kind of feel the need to step in here for my country and just kind of defend its honor just a tad.

Firstly Ivan Milat was a proper A-Grade psycho weirdo-nutjob!!! that bloke was off the friggin chain!! he was completely insane and crazy however Not everyone in australia is like that so please do not let the one psycho nutjob tarnish the entire reputation of the country.

Its not like the moment a visitor steps foot in australia the chances of them being kidnapped/murdered within a day rises 100%! That was a freak inccident and australia is actually a very SAFE country, millions of people come here because its such a great place to be and the crime rate for what its worth is rather low.

I mean like any country yeah sure we have issues and its probably definetly best not to wander the outback by yourself and its always a bad idea to hitchike with strangers, but you make it sound like a rather horrible place and its really not, its quite awesome prehaps you should visit one day and see for yourself!

 

[Down and Out in BB]

David, no one is blaming the victim here...

???

it's common sense really

a huge lack of common sense. It has nothing to do with criminality

Right, a brutal rape has nothing to do with "criminality", just the victim's lack of common sense. She was probably wearing sexy hiking clothes too, just asking for it.

There really is a culture of blaming the victim on this board and it gets kind of tiresome.

 

[perry]

Hello,
As an australian i kind of feel the need to step in here for my country and just kind of defend its honor just a tad.

Firstly Ivan Milat was a proper A-Grade psycho weirdo-nutjob!!! that bloke was off the friggin chain!! he was completely insane and crazy however Not everyone in australia is like that so please do not let the one psycho nutjob tarnish the entire reputation of the country.

Its not like the moment a visitor steps foot in australia the chances of them being kidnapped/murdered within a day rises 100%! That was a freak inccident and australia is actually a very SAFE country, millions of people come here because its such a great place to be and the crime rate for what its worth is rather low.

I am sorry if you took offense to my post but I am Australian and know the reality of living there so please do not call it a very SAFE country when it is not . Do you remember the Hoddle Street Massacre, Queen Street Massacre, Strathfield Massacre, Bundaberh massacre and the most notorious of all the Port Arthur Massacre which claimed nearly 40 lives.


There is definetly more violent crime per capita in Australia against tourists in Australia than Argentina . Your above post is completey incorrect and deaths by visitors to Argentina is amongst the lowest in the world and certainly much lower than Australia that has had many many notorious cases in the last 15 years . I can name over 10 cases that were not related to Ivan Milat .

In Australia there have been numerous cases of backpackers being killed and massacres of innocent tourists in Bundaberg Queesland and Port Arthur Tasmania.

This article was from the Guardian 2003

​

Spectacular headlines such as Britons who see Australia and die, do little to encourage tourism. This article quoted official Australian figures and explained that nearly 400 tourists a year (0.01%) die visiting Australia. While most of the deaths are attributed to accidents and health-related issues, the article stated that during the review period, 22 persons died from an unlawful assault or, in other words, were murdered (Guardian 2003). The report mentioned the murder of Peter Falconio and the Childers backpackers fire that claimed 15 lives, but did not clarify that one incident claimed almost 70 percent of the victims of unlawful killings.
In 2004, the British press reporting the trial of murdered British backpacker Caroline Stuttle drew links to another unrelated incident which took the lives of seven British tourists two years earlier. Although the cases were unrelated, were two years apart, and some one million tourists had visited Australia unharmed in the meantime, the British media nonetheless chose to draw a tenuous geographical link to the two incidents (Fickling 2004): ‘Bundaburg is 30 miles east of Childers, where an itinerant fruit picker, Robert Long, killed 15 people, including seven Britons…in 2000’.