Women walking Camino de Santiago speak of ‘horrifying’ sexual harassment

Single female pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago have said they were subjected to “horrendous” sexual harassment in the almost deserted rural areas of Spain, Portugal and France.

In interviews with the Guardian, nine women alleged that they suffered harassment while attempting the pilgrimage route over the past five years, and some said they feared for their lives.

Seven of the women said they had met men in Spain and Portugal who were masturbating or touching themselves, one of whom went on to chase the pilgrim through the countryside.

Another woman said she stopped unwanted rude comments from several men, while a ninth woman said a man pulled up in a van while she was walking and begged her to get inside. The incidents usually occurred while the women were walking alone along remote stretches of the Camino.

Lorena Gaibor, founder of Camigas, an online forum connecting female pilgrims since 2015, said the reports were alarming but not surprising. “Sexual harassment is endemic on the Camino. It feels very familiar. Every freaking year we get reports of women having the same things,” she said.

Rosie, 25, said she was walking through a forest path in Portugal earlier this summer when she came across a man with no pants on who was joking as he watched her. The local police did not pick up when she tried to call them.

“It was terrible,” said Rosie, who asked not to have her full name published. “I felt completely alone at that point.”

The incident left her feeling unsafe, which made her realize her unique vulnerability as a single woman pilgrim.

“The Camino is amazing, because it’s so difficult, so physically challenging and so mentally challenging,” she said. “But there’s this added element that women face in walking, this huge added safety issue, that completely affects your ability to fully face those other challenges or enjoy it in the way that other people.”

In recent years the various pilgrimage routes known collectively as the Camino de Santiago have become very popular, especially among women. Last year 446,000 people walked the Camino, 53% of them women, according to Pedro Blanco, representative of the Spanish central government in Galicia. “More than 230,000 women did it last year, and many of them didn’t hesitate to do it alone,” he told reporters recently.

Marie Albert, a journalist, self-described adventurer and feminist writer, said the risks faced by female pilgrims were not discussed enough. “These routes are said to be safe for women and there is a taboo around saying anything different,” she said.

In 2019, as Albert walked 435 miles (700km) across northern Spain to reach Santiago de Compostela, she documented several attacks. One man tried to kiss her, and another masturbated in front of her, she said. One man harassed her via text message, and another man followed her on the street. Sometimes her attackers were pilgrims who were walking the same route as her, which made her panic that she would cross paths with them again.

Of the nine women who spoke to the Guardian, six reported the incidents to the police. Only one case was found and prosecuted by the perpetrator.

There have been a few incidents along the way in recent years. In 2018, a 50-year-old Venezuelan woman was allegedly kidnapped and raped while walking through northwestern Spain. Last year Spanish police arrested a 48-year-old man accused of holding a 24-year-old German pilgrim against her will in his home and sexually assaulting her. In 2019, police in Portugal arrested a 78-year-old man accused of kidnapping and attempting to rape a pilgrim from Germany.

Concerns about the safety of female pilgrims came to the fore in 2015 when American pilgrim Denise Thiem went missing in a rural area in the Spanish province of León. Her cancellation prompted several pilgrims to come forward with their own stories of being threatened or harassed, before a court in 2017 sentenced a Spanish man to 23 years in prison for Thiem’s ​​murder.

In 2021 the Spanish government launched a safety campaign which has since expanded to 1,600 points across Galicia where female pilgrims can find information in different languages ​​on how to contact the emergency services.

Johnnie Walker, one of the administrators behind the All Routes Camino de Santiago Group, a social media forum that counts more than 450,000 members, said there has long been frustration with the lack of statistics, even with efforts to address with these incidents increased. .

“As the number of pilgrims has increased, so have reports of men being revealed to pilgrims,” ​​he said. “In response, the Civil Guard has stepped up patrols on a number of routes.”

Its forum has long advised pilgrims in Spain to download the AlertCops app, which allows pilgrims to contact the police directly. “There’s always a balance to be struck between warning women and scaring them,” he said. “However, some of us feel that this issue needs to be addressed more forcefully and clearly across the country now.”

Police in Portugal said they have received five reports since 2023 from pilgrims, all related to demonstration incidents. No suspects have been identified and no arrests have been made. Between May and October, police stepped up patrols along various routes in Portugal to better protect pilgrims, they said in a statement.

Police in Spain and France, as well as the interior ministries of those countries, were also contacted for comment but did not respond.

When asked whether there was an official account of pilgrims who reported incidents of harassment in the past five years, the Spanish central government delegation in Galicia said in a statement that it was not aware of any cases of sexual assault involving female pilgrims.

He cited a series of initiatives aimed at protecting pilgrims, including specific police patrols along routes and an established protocol that requires security forces to be dispatched whenever a call comes in from pilgrims.

• Information and support is available from the following organizations for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the United States, Rainn offers support at 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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