Singer Vivian Chan Was Sexually Harassed in Egypt
Entering the industry after participating in TVB’s The Voice 2 <超級巨聲2>, 30-year-old Hong Kong singer Vivian Chan (陳慧敏) recently journeyed on a 100-day backpacking adventure in India, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, and many more countries. As a solo female traveler, Vivian became an easy target for sexual harassment. While in India, Vivian said that older men had bumped her chest on the street several times. The most horrifying incident happened in Egypt when Vivian was forcibly undressed and touched by a local teacher.
Was Afraid She Would Get Killed
Since she was 12 years old, Vivian had dreamed about visiting Egypt. After being sexually harassed on her third day there, Vivian quickly bought a plane ticket and left. “I felt very weak and couldn’t face what had happened, so I left.”
She wrote on social media, “I was pretty happy on the first day. I met a local teacher who was very friendly and told me a lot about Egypt. The next day, he asked me to go out to see the Giza Necropolis, in which I thought it was a friendly gesture. After seeing the attraction, he said he is a frequent volunteer and wanted me to visit an old lady who lived by herself. I didn’t think he was a bad person, so I said yes. When we got to the old lady’s house, everything was fine. She was very happy about our visit and we talked and drank tea.
“I had hurt my leg in India, and the teacher said he could help me. I refused, but he was very insistent. The old lady was present and helped prepare some hot water, so I agreed thinking it wouldn’t be a problem.
“Afterward, the old lady went to her bedroom to sleep, which left the two of us alone. He said he frequently saw me massaging my shoulders and said he could help. He asked me to turn around and suddenly he pulled my shirt up, which really caught me by surprise. He told me not to be scared because he was only helping me. He then unbuckled my bra, pulling my body against his private area three times. I was really scared and just froze while he touched my back for ten minutes. The intensity of the fear made me unable to utter any sound. I was terrified he was a psychopath or would maybe take my kidneys.
“Luckily, I left calmly afterward. I returned back to my hostel by taxi. The entire time, I felt soulless and angry why I couldn’t say say no. I’m someone who always thinks the world is full of good people. A weak idiot who doesn’t know how to protect herself.”
Manager Said Vivian is Safe
The incident alarmed many of Vivian’s fans, but she said she only wanted to expose the truth on Instagram as documentation of her life, and she didn’t mean to alarm others. Through her social media, she thanked everyone for their concern and promises to protect herself better in the future.
While Vivian did not directly speak with the press regarding the situation, her manager spoke on her behalf. Ms. Cheung said that Vivian is doing better, but she didn’t call the police because she didn’t want to magnify the incident. “She hasn’t spoken to me at length. But I know she has already left [Egypt] and is in a safe place. We are in contact. She went on a solo trip and isn’t supposed to return until mid-December. I told her to be careful. I thank everyone for their concerns.”
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Hailey for JayneStars.com.
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I think it’s very foolish for women to travel alone and stay in hostel like this. You should at least have one travel partner with you. You are in a foreign country and alone. Chances are you don’t even speak the language(s). What if you get robbed of your money and passport (visa)? How do you protect yourself when something like this happens? Especially in countries that are known to treat women so badly. Why put yourself in a risky situation like that? We women need to be SMART to protect ourselves. I know a young woman (25) who has been doing this for a few years. She traveled to so many countries this way and she had lost her money, credit cards… At times called home and asked for help, but then she’ll do it again. Her mom worries sick about her every time she travels, but can’t stop her from doing it.
@dramas4me Ive heard stories from people I know where men have sexually harrassed women and girls in Egypt, but all of them they werent alone. It doesn’t deter them all that much.
@megamiaow
I know, but traveling alone is way too dangerous for a female. For myself i don’t travel to countries in general that treat women like dirt. I don’t want to take that risk. I love to travel, but i won’t go to countries like India, Egypt and other Middle East countries. No offend to anyone, but it’s in general.
@dramas4me No offense. I feel the same way. You have to cautious of where you travel especially if you are going solo. All the countries you mentioned are not that safe for women but I think I once saw list of the most dangerous. South Africa/Brazil/Mexico/Russia/Thailand/Iran/India/Egypt/Turkey/Columbia/Peru/Jamaica/Ecuador and that’s all I remember now. haha
@wm2017 Bangkok (Thailand) is like most cities, it’s not a big issue to travel but no one should take granted when traveling to any places, even when in the safest place. Not too sure about other parts of Thailand.
The biggest concern in this article is the female traveling solo and going to places that are scoring high on personal safety and choosing to believe a stranger (spending a day together doesn’t make him a friend) and going to a house alone with him to meet an elderly. She’s very fortunate that she is safe and doesn’t suffer much more than what she already has. Her fear is understandable but she has been very gullible to say the least.
@bearbear I mean not scoring high.
@bearbear
I agree and traveling alone is one thing but to go alone with a stranger to visit an old lady at her house does not sound very safe at all. When you do not know anyone well you never go alone with them to a private place like a home. At most, meet them at a public place in case something happens, it is easier to escape and ask for help. She was too gullible and was too trusting.
@wm2017
@ bearbear
Yes. Correct spelling for “no offense”. Thanks!
Those countries you mentioned are bad also. For Thailand i think it depends where you go also. The best thing is wherever you are – do your research and never let your guard down. Never put yourself in a vulnerable situation.
I agree with you about everything you said about her. She is very lucky that she was able to get out of there.
@dramas4me Agree!
@dramas4me
Honestly, many of my friends who are females have came to the US to study alone and my other friends have worked abroad alone in some Asian countries and they are ok. It just depends but yes, I would never go to any anti female countries alone. But whether male or female, you need to always be careful when traveling alone or even in a group to a place or country that you are not familiar with.
@megamiaow
Very true and we always take pre cautions regardless of where we are at and whether in a group or alone.
@dramas4me
You sound just like my late mom. She is very scared to let me go anywhere alone. However, I feel regardless if you are male or female, you need to be careful when you go anywhere whether it be alone or with anyone. Sadly at times the one you trust the most ends up being the one who harasses you.
Recently. I was watching a vlog by a Korean traveler and he was verbally harassed by a perverted guy in Egypt. We saw it on camera too. Luckily, nothing much came of it as the Korean traveler was on camera so many were watching. Things can happen anywhere at any time. I must say that I do not have a good impression of middle eastern countries so would never go there alone.
My female cousins and family friend’s daughter all worked and studied abroad in China and South Korea and they were all pretty safe for the most part. But yes, regardless if you are female or male, you need to be careful wherever you are at. However, some countries are generally safer than others.
@hetieshou
When people go to a foreign country for school or work – it’s a big change in everything, the lifestyle, the culture… Same thing when you are traveling – one should explores the new destination, but always be careful and one should never take the unnecessary risks to put herself/himself in danger. Yes. I agree that it applies to both male and female. We all need NOT to be gullible. I agree with you.
@rika
YOLO can be a dangerous thing. I can’t agree with you more on what you said.
@dramas4me The #YOLO mentality doesn’t really help either. People often think they will be okay to travel alone but they often forget that they were raised in a safe environment. To use their own growing up experience as a conjecture to assume they will be fine in a foreign place doesn’t make sense but that’s how most humans operate.
@rika Your comment is spot on. They were raised in a safe environment. In UK here it does not help when women ignores police advice and walk alone at night. They condemn the police for giving these advice and believe it is victim blaming. Women should have the right to walk freely at night without worry but it doesn’t stop predators thinking differently. When they take these unrealistic mindsets abroad it becomes a real danger let alone at home.
girls and women should always beware of who they are w/. they always say the sexual predators are who we know best, could be a best friend, friend, family, or something whom we think is nice to us. college girls get raped b/c they trusted the wrong friend. this is a reminder to us all ladies to be cautious no matter where or what age. even 60+ old ladies have been raped too.
@m0m0 Yes, sexual predictors can be anyone, stranger or otherwise. Hence anyone of either gender should never take anything for granted. Unfortunately even despite articles of how solo travelers been taken advantage of, there will be newer victims who just assumed that she or he is lucky to meet a friendly, helpful local and ill fortune will not fall on him or her. The worst is when others try to advise caution, they accuse others of stereotyping.
@m0m0
Not just women and girls, but guys need to be careful too as guys can get sexually harassed and raped too. Yes, we must always be careful regardless of where we are at and who we are with. Sadly in many cases, the ones we trust the most are the ones that end up harassing us.
The teacher Vivian encountered in Egypt sounds like an experienced sexual predator. He may even be the type to prey on tourists because they are often lost or looking for help.
He did all the right things to appear friendly and helpful to her, even escorting her to the Giza Necropolis. He tried to make her feel comfortable and gain her trust, by saying that the old lady will be there in the old house. Seizing the first opportunity they are alone together, he made his move on her under the guise of trying to massage her shoulders.
Left alone with a virtual stranger who is offering to massage her is a no no. She’s definitely too trusting and naive. The alarm bells should have sounded way before he took off her shirt.
I once traveled to Costa Rica with a female friend. It was only the two of us on a week-long trip, where we took local buses from one area of Costa Rica to another. One night, we booked a local tour guide to take us on a tour of a rain forest at night, with nothing but his flashlight to look at creatures residing in the rain forest. There were two other tourists with us on the guided tour. But it was night time and no one around to help us if anything had happened. Looking back, it was a pretty risky move.
When traveling, sometimes we throw away caution because we’re too eager to try a new experience. We’ve read about an attraction and want to experience it even though the conditions may be a little risky and not ideal, because we feel that if we don’t do it, there may not be another next time.
Such unfortunate experience… not every place is safe for female travellers. Glad she’s safe now.
I think you are so right about this:
” The teacher Vivian encountered in Egypt sounds like an experienced sexual predator. He may even be the type to prey on tourists because they are often lost or looking for help.”
Yes. The night tour that you took in Costa Rica was a risky one.
One time we took a zipline tour in Cancun, Mexico – it was very fun at the time, but every time i think back it scares me. The zipline was not very well built and we could have gotten hurt badly if something happened.
So naive.