Quadragesima
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- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Portugues (2020)
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Thanks ! You have been really cold blooded!! Congratulations!!I had an unpleasant encounter yesterday morning while walking from Barcelos to Casa da Fernanda. It took place between Vila Boa and Lijó, at the place where the path goes toward the forest after crossing the railroad tracks. A man emerged from the forest and sat on the stone marker with the yellow arrow indicating that the path turns to the left. As I approached, he stood up, revealing that he was not wearing pants, and waved his junk in my direction. I kept walking steadily without reacting, so he grabbed himself and jiggled furiously while running backward in front of me (a rather impressive feat of athleticism, I guess). I kept my head down to avoid looking at him and continued walking, and finally he turned around and ran forward down the path. I waited a bit for him to get away, and then continued forward. As I rounded a curve, I saw him again ahead of me, this time with his pants on. I stopped again; he waited for me a few minutes, and then disappeared into the fog. After I was sure he was gone, I continued into Lijó and stopped at the Cafe Arantes, where I told the waitress what had happened and asked to speak to the police. The waitress told the cafe owner, who called the police for me, and I eventually made a formal report, but it was almost certainly too late to catch the man. Both the police and the cafe owner are on the lookout now, so hopefully there will be no further incidents, but I urge solo peregrinas to be cautious in this area.
I am so sorry this happened to you. You were brave & handled this situation well. Thanks for the warning.I had an unpleasant encounter yesterday morning while walking from Barcelos to Casa da Fernanda. It took place between Vila Boa and Lijó, at the place where the path goes toward the forest after crossing the railroad tracks. A man emerged from the forest and sat on the stone marker with the yellow arrow indicating that the path turns to the left. As I approached, he stood up, revealing that he was not wearing pants, and waved his junk in my direction. I kept walking steadily without reacting, so he grabbed himself and jiggled furiously while running backward in front of me (a rather impressive feat of athleticism, I guess). I kept my head down to avoid looking at him and continued walking, and finally he turned around and ran forward down the path. I waited a bit for him to get away, and then continued forward. As I rounded a curve, I saw him again ahead of me, this time with his pants on. I stopped again; he waited for me a few minutes, and then disappeared into the fog. After I was sure he was gone, I continued into Lijó and stopped at the Cafe Arantes, where I told the waitress what had happened and asked to speak to the police. The waitress told the cafe owner, who called the police for me, and I eventually made a formal report, but it was almost certainly too late to catch the man. Both the police and the cafe owner are on the lookout now, so hopefully there will be no further incidents, but I urge solo peregrinas to be cautious in this area.
Yes, I think a whistle would have been effective in this situation, and I will probably carry one if I walk alone again. I agree that most exhibitionists are non-violent, and I perceived this man to be more of a nuisance than an actual threat—I probably would have responded differently if I felt he actually intended to harm me.Actually prostitution is legal in Portugal, however "procurement or pimping" is not and the Portuguese police limit their efforts to arresting the madams and pimps. I actually saw two "clubas de chiquetas" right on the Portuguese route which are thinly disguised as dance clubs. Many of the woman are not local, but they are immigrants from Eastern European countries. Sadly they are being exploited.
Exhibitionist can be a scary bunch - I suppose from their side of things that's the point. Most psychologist will tell you that they are non-violent offenders however, and many benefit from therapy which a sociopath like a rapist does not.
As a practical matter for women, police will suggest a loud dog whistle as effective protection. Flashers will seek isolated places and the whistle makes the scene more public.
Well, as someone who's spent a fair bit of time in rural Portugal lately, and tries to read rural Portuguese news--as written for the locals, rather than the expat community--regularly, let me come up with a few guesses (in no particular order of importance, just as I thought of them):So sorry to hear this happened to you.
Why are most of these reports from Portugal?
What's going on there?
I don't know. In Galicia there is a long tradition of women walking alone to work in the fields and sell products in the feiras without any problem. North Portugal, that is very similar to Galicia, I'm sure that has the same tradition.So sorry to hear this happened to you.
Why are most of these reports from Portugal?
What's going on there?
I don't know whether "flashing" is more common in Portugal than in Spain, and for me this is not the issue. My impression/observation is that among women walking the pilgrim routes who post on this forum more such incidents are reported as happening in Portugal than in Spain. To express it differently, I think it reasonable to conclude that women pilgrims walking in Portugal alone, or with another woman, are more likely to be accosted in this way than if they were walking in Spain. To me, their stories of these experiences show disgusting and often attempted threatening behaviour by the males involved, sometimes indicating that they are choosing isolated areas on pilgrim routes to lie in wait for pilgrim women. This behaviour repels me more than frightens me. But I find that the idea of being accosted in this way keeps me away from areas where it seems more likely to happen, in this case, on the pilgrim routes in Portugal.I wonder about the assertion that this kind of stuff happens more in Portugal than in Spain. I did some scanning through EU documents and the two countries are very very close in terms of all kinds of measures of different crimes against women, rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, etc. Hard, or maybe impossible, to find statistics on flashing since so much of that behavior is not illegal under the laws of either country. I think that if it is done with an intent to intimidate it can be the subject of some criminal or administrative penalties. But I digress..... my only point really is to say that I don’t think I’m convinced that this happens more in Portugal than in Spain.
I agree that incidents like this happen in Spain as well. I spoke to women walking the Norte and Primitivo at the same time as us and they told us of being flashed, of being invited to get their water topped up and being groped, and of being followed. Some of these women reported the incidents (the ones groped when collecting water were in the same location on the same day) and they were all walking alone. There is obvious prostitution in Spain, there are numerous “nightclubs” right on many Caminos. The VdlP has plenty, the Camino cuts through the carpark of one going into Grimaldo. But times must be hard as quite a few have closed up shop. Unfortunately now women who decide to walk alone have to understand there is a risk this could happen to them and either walk with / near others or have a plan to extricate themselves safely. Chance favours the prepared.I wonder about the assertion that this kind of stuff happens more in Portugal than in Spain.
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