38 - Sunday, July 31, 1988 - North Shore News: WOMAN ASSAULTED ON SUPERVISED TOUR European holiday turned into nightmare I HAVE just been handed a press release from the Toronto Better Business Bureau (BBB). It shocked me so much that I am printing it in it’s entirety. Every woman I’ve shown this letter to has reacted with the same outrage I felt. To be sure this wasn’t a scam, I telephoned the BBB in Toronto and they verified it: What should have been ‘‘a trip of a lifetime’? turned into a nightmare when a Toronto woman was sexually assaulted while on vacation. The young woman, a recent col- ‘ Jege graduate, told the Better Business Bureau ‘‘on the evening of my assault, I went to bed at midnight and was startled to find my aggressor on top of me with his hand covering my mouth. I strug- gled to reach safety but to no avail. The act was extremely vulgar and humiliating.”’ The woman (whose name the Better Business Bureau is withholding) was on a 40-day supervised European tour when the attack took place. The tour, conducted by a leading tour group, was travelling through Germany at the time of the assault. “The most incredible, and frightening, aspect of the unfostu- nate incident was that her attacker was permitted to remain on the tour after the attack,’’ stated BBB president Paul Tuz. In her letter to the Bureau, the young woman said that because she could not afford a plane ticket back to Canada immediately fol- lowing her assault, she was forced to spend the last 18 days of her trip ‘holidaying’ with the person who proke into her room and attacked er. : “The tour manager, who was supposedly supervising the trip, appears to have shown complete disregard and insensitivity toward this woman and her emotional well-being when she was neither sent home at the tour’s expense or her attacker was not immediately expelled from the trip,”’ Tuz said. “The tour company has refused to refund the cost of her trip but did extend their ‘deepest regret’ concerning the incident,’? Tuz said. ‘‘A tragedy took place and the tour company seems to be overlooking the seriousness of the incident by stating that they ‘can- not be held responsible for actions made by a participant of a tour.’ Consumers should be warned of SUNDAY » WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY companies with attitudes and policies such as these.”’ If the BBB was a_less-well- known operation I’d be very skep- tical about the whole thing. Several questions come mediately to mind: ¢ Why weren’t the police called? Had they been, her attacker would be enjoying an aill-expense paid visit in Germany as guests of the German government. e If she, the victim, didn’t call the police, why didn’t the hotel? It is stated that the intruder ‘‘broke into”? her room. Wouldn’t that in- clude some damage to the door? What kind of lock did the im- - door have? Most hotels have a double-locking security system for nighttime. Did she fail to utilize it? © The tour guide is said to have shown complete disregard for the woman and her complaint. This ties in very nicely with my column of July 17: give a lot of care when choosing a guided tour. How much experience has the guide in ‘‘guiding’’? I see no other alternative but for the guide to boost the rapist right out of the group (if he wasn’t already in jail) and, as a goodwill offering, advance the woman her fare home. * More ignorance: the guide should have known that the airline involved, following a call from the tour company head office, would waive the regulations and fly the woman home. Furthermore, did the victim not have trip cancellation insurance? One quick trip to a doctor — nota bad idea, following a rape — would activate her policy. She could have been home next day! © Why is the refunding of the cost of the tour such an issue? A crime has been committed. I wonder at the mentality of a woman who could spend the next 18 days socializing with an at- tacker. Again, trip cancellation in- surance, again with that doctor’s certificate that was never (I guess) obtained would have ensured the refund of the unused portion. Now, lIet’s look at security precautions for women travelling alone. How could this incident be avoided? -I cannot recommend portable burglar alarms enough. They are fi Travel Calendar August 14 August 28 Condo vacations/timeshare Pacific Northwest fall getaways/Seattle special Sept. 11 Sept. 25 October 9 Ski Cruising Hawaii travel wise Barbara McCreadie wonderful! And, until my daugh- ter broke mine, I used one regular- ly. This made me give Gulliver’s in Park Royal a call. They have a door alarm available at $9.95 and a combined door alarm-smoke detector at about $60. 1 had the latter and would recommend it highly. Just don’t let PETROCANADA WESTLYNN S PAUL BRIN CENTREISERVICE MANAGER | OIL CHANGE S PLUS 16-POINT SERVICE CHECK