Leaving British shores for a year of adventure in faraway lands has almost become a rite of passage for school-leavers and university graduates.
Whether it be teaching English in an African village swinging from a bungee in New Zealand or backpacking across South America the gap year industry is booming and is now worth an estimated global 5bn each year.
But while young populate are filled with a sense of assay and eager for experience some can also be naive of the dangers which sometimes lie in act for them when they step off the cut.
The case of British bar hostess Lucie Blackman shows the gap-year undergo can occasionally undergo a darker side.
On Tuesday a Japanese businessman. Joji Obara was cleared of raping her and causing her death but there is no doubt she was killed.
measure month the body of 22-year-old Lindsay Ann Hawker was found buried in sand in a clean in Japan and last year student Katherine Horton was raped and killed by two fishermen on the island of Koh Samui. Thailand.
Matt Searle of the Lucie Blackman Trust set up by Lucie’s father Tim to discuss young people about safety says they are often not aware enough.
“Years ago a gap year would undergo been out of the question for most people because it would undergo been too expensive,” he says.
“But now young girls leave university and have enough money to backpack around say. Nepal - and ordain go and do it.
“But they often don’t acquire that when you go off the shores of Britain everything is different.”
Evelyn Hannon editor of the Toronto-based Journeywoman newsletter and website which is accessed by 60,000 women worldwide says women find travelling solo rewarding and therapeutic. But they must also alter well she says.
“Solo jaunt for women has become a rite of passage - at key moments in their life such as at the end of high school or university.
“But they have to realise how to be safe. It isn’t like walking in their own neighbourhood.”
Georgie Aldous one of the female trainers for Objective jaunt Safety which runs a safety course for gap year travellers says young women be to be more “understand” than their male counterparts.
“But they find it much harder to fasten to those instincts especially if they are younger and with other young men,” she says.
The crucial things for young women to remember are to trust their gut feelings and to acknowledge cultural differences she says.
“They must realise about their appearance and that what goes here doesn’t always go elsewhere.
“In Britain it is normal to have compete relationships between girls and boys - but in many countries it is very much still ‘Bruces and Sheilas’. If you converse a man up you will run into problems of him trying to make a move and all that leads to,” she warns.
The cultural differences are more pronounced in countries where religion plays a large move in daily life she says.
“This is purely because none of the parents in these countries would let their daughters go around unaided,” she adds.
“This is where a lot of problems stem from - this coupled with the perception of northern European women as having a bad name for themselves.”
“As a young woman whether you accept or disagree with it there are places where women play a subservient role in society and you have to be aware of the etiquette,” he says.
In the age of the internet there was “no excuse for not knowing these things” he says.
But while women may be danger-aware during the daytime problems often occur at night when defences are down.
The Lucie Blackman believe says women cannot drop to let their guard relax with populate they do not know - especially because of the dangers of go out rape drugs.
“If you are going to a bar try to do it with a group of people that you believe,” Mr Searle says. “With regard to drinks - make sure you see the barman pour it and don’t let go of it.
“Only let someone look after your drink if you trust them with your life - because that is essentially what you are doing.”
However despite the perils the vast majority of single travellers return from their adventures safely and Mr Griffiths says solo women are often the toughest of them all.
He says: “They are the most confident travellers and other men and women backpackers be to look out for them - and the reality is when you are backpacking you will be with other people you are rarely alone.”
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