It’s sickening this happened to you. It is not surprising at all. Women are seen as easy prey in some places, especially tourists. The savagery of some of these perpetrators is shocking.

The publicity of the location doesn’t stop them either. If I stand somewhere alone as a woman, I become a target. I’ve had male vendors walk up to me in the middle of Rome and try to intimidate me into buying trinkets. I had the “audacity” to interrupt one of them, repeating “No!” clearly and loudly. He got up in my face, practically spitting in anger yelling at me, then tried to follow and accost me. Right in front of the entrance to Castel Sant'Angelo. He ran the other way when my husband came up behind us. I wasn’t totally safe in private either. I was raped by a friend on my first trip to Europe. When I have lone female friends traveling to see me, I make sure to escort them soon as possible. I don’t want them to ever feel helpless or alone in a strange place.