another abduction attempt

[tonysue]

quote:Originally posted by HRH_59

OMG - how worrying is this.  We are arriving in Calis on 3rd August and will have 2 x 16 year old girls with us you where hoping for a bit of "freedom" away from parents.  Not sure I will be happy with them being out on their own now.

Pardon me your majesty:D, just tell your princesses to be vigilant, stay together and get a taxi if out late, just the same precautions you would take on a night out in Birkenhead. The beauty of this forum is it keeps everybody informed and so safer, the incidents you have been reading about  happen everywhere all the time, we happen to love Calis and dont want to see it spoilt by a lowlife so are prepared to go that extra mile to ensure it stays our special place in the sun. You will have a great time. Relax and enjoy . your humble servant and near neighbour in the royal borough of thingwall.

[stoop]

A report in the Sun today shows figures for rapes in 2008. Turkey had 1,916.130 British visitors and 21 reported rapes (Foreign Office figures). It came second to Greece which had 28 reported attacks (not sure how many Brits visited but I guess more than Turkey). Cyprus was next with 9 out of 1.5 million Brit visitors.

It might be just me but it's worrying that the 3 worst countries are all in the same region (and some might say have a similar background as far as population goes).

By contrast - Germany - which had over 2.5 million Brit visitors had 1 rape reported in 2008 and France 6 from 14.8 million.

Hopfully the Turkish authorities will take note of this and do something positive.

The Sun gives some basic safety rules which are pretty obvious but the main one is if you are female and you think you are being followed then try and look confident, do not run or look over your shoulder but stop and let the person go past you. It seems these people do not like it when you are not intimidated by them. Also try to dress so that you can fight off any attacker and not give them any advantage. Forget high heels and look at things like pony tails which can be easily grabbed in a confrontation.

According to figures released 97% of attacks are by people known to the victim so it's quite rare to be picked out at random.

Go enjoy your holiday and let your girls enjoy theirs but make sure they know how to get home safely - even if it means getting a taxi and the cost it involves. We often find that if you like a particular driver that they will do a deal for regular pick ups. Quite often a fixed price can be negotiated to save some money. Also - if you are at some bars/restaurants they will make sure you get home safely by driving you home when you are ready.

[Scunner]

"How worrying is this?"

I agree with tonysue, not very worrying at all. In and around the bar/restaurant areas nobody would be mad enough to try anything and they'll be there 99% of the time. Bar staff are reliable for keeping an eye on the occasional sleazy looking individual. That just leaves the journey home, and 2 x 16 year old girls shouldn't be walking home late at night alone anywhere really.

I wouldn't worry, at all in fact. Just take heed of the information and remember to stay responsible on holiday  

[Twin Bee]

Greece has approx 3 million vistors annually. According to the Foreign Office most of these rapes are date rape/drug rape related in places where clubbing is prevalent.
So the message is if drinking make sure you know what is in your drink. Also most rapes are allegedly carried out by English people or European's and not the native population. Very few are stranger rapes.

[Rimms]

Absolutely agree, most people will have a night out along the prom and there is always a taxi parked at the water taxi bridge, the main street after the bridge is always busy and once again the taxi rank is there at the end. If you are worried by all of these reports then take the advice of Stoop & Scunner and get into a taxi rather than making the lonely walk up Baris Manco or down past the Harem etc.

Calis is still a lovely place and even with all of these reports I would still bring my daughter rather than let her go to likes of Ibiza, Faliraki, Ayai Napa etc.

[Scunner]

Does it mention how many rapes in Cyprus were by British attackers Stoop? Total crap, ignore.

[Rimms]

Have a read of this

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1504065.ece

[lmaddy]

Having just got back from Calis I was shocked to see these posts. There was no mention of this in resort. I am so sorry for the 2 families involved can emphathise as my step daughter had an incident a couple of years ago.

However, I would also like to say we were 5 ladies alone & we were treated with nothing but respect by all Turkish in shops & restaurants. The only issue our party had was in the market where they felt some of the stall holders were over familiar and a bit touchy but this was dealt with in a poliet manner. At no point did we feel unsafe - however we had a car and didn't take any unusal risks.

Everyone needs to take the same precautions they do at home. There are opportunists out there who will take advantage if they can. It does look like there is a serial offender out there who needs to be caught. Lets hope they are before there are any further incidents.

[Scunner]

From 2 separate reports in "The Sun" quoted in this topic:

From Rimm's link: "Foreign Office figures show there have been 46 complaints of rape in a year by British women in Greece. "

From Stoop's Quote: "A report in the Sun today shows figures for rapes in 2008. 'It came second to  ~(Foreign Office figures). Greece which had 28 reported attacks'

Moral of this story, The Sun - please ignore, crap.

[stoop]

Scunner - whatever the figures are it's 1 too many but if you read the report in the link above you will see it's dated August '08 and the figures relate to a 1 year time span. The article in todays suns relates to total figure for 2008. It could be that there were many cases reported from August 07 to December 07 which would not be included in the 2008 year count.