What Happens If You're Sexually Assaulted on Vacation? PLUS 5 security tips

Women are more likely to be raped while traveling than while at home. (Photo: Sam Hurd Photography/Stocksy)

Earlier this week, five men were arrested in India and charged with the kidnapping and repeated brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old Japanese woman who they held captive for more than a month.

Reports now suggest that the men were part of an organized gang that specifically targets single female tourists.

For travelers planning a trip to India, or anywhere else in the world, stories like this are scary and worrisome.

Amid the excitement of planning, booking, and embarking on an overseas journey, the idea of being raped is likely to be far from most people’s minds. But what happens if you are sexually assaulted while in a foreign country?

Where do you go if you are sexually assaulted while you are out of the country? (Photo: ERproductions Ltd/Blend Images/Getty Images)

Aside from the trauma of the attack itself, sexual assault brings with it a host of other complications, such as the possibility of pregnancy or contracting STDs. Combine this with a possible language barrier, inadequate knowledge of local resources to go to for help, and potential trouble communicating with friends and family back home, and victims are faced with a horrific predicament.

According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), one in 5 women (and one in 33 men) will become victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime. That is a higher risk than that of getting cancer, being involved in a car accident, or contracting malaria.

A frightening 2012 study of sexual assault by the European Institute of Studies on Prevention found that tourists are EIGHT times more likely to be raped while on vacation than at home.

In the last two years there has been a visible increase in media reports of attacks occurring overseas. A British woman raped by a security guard in Egypt. An Italian tourist raped by police in Mexico. An American tourist raped in a store in Israel. All since 2013.

But considering that in the U.S. an estimated 54 percent of rapes are not reported to the police, when you add a foreign environment with inadequate rape response services, a victim is even less likely to report the attack.

        FIVE SAFETY TIPS FOR TRAVELERS

• Your passport, visas and other travel papers -- as well as copies. Make sure you also leave a copy of these documents and your credit cards with a friend or relative at home.
• Health insurance that will cover you at your destination. You may need to purchase a specific plan for your destination to cover you on your trip.
• Prescriptions for any medications you're taking with you.
• always have with you all security numbers of the country you are going.
• be on the news/security alert