MetaChat - Hmmph. Grumble, grumble.

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02 August 2007

Hmmph. Grumble, grumble. The Times runs an article charging that Greece is unsafe for British tourists... when, in fact, I wonder if Greece is safe from British tourists. My response inside. →[More:]

I don't know if they will publish it, but I commented:

As an American woman living in Greece (12 years), I find this report very curious. Quite the scary headline you have there, yet I notice that there is almost no actual information about these injuries and rapes.

Since United Nations statistics for rape, per capita, show Greece at #59 out of 65 countries surveyed, and Great Britain at #13, my guess is that most of these rapes would be attacks by other Britons... In fact, it seems like Brits would be safer from rape if they came here than if they stayed at home.

Survey here: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_percap-crime-rapes-per-capita

The British have the worst reputation of any country here for drink, drugs and shockingly bad behaviour, so I'm also wondering how many of those injuries altogether have to do with spree drinking and drug usage. Too bad your article doesn't expand on this.

As an example, see "Greece to act over British tourists' antics": http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1557322,00.html

There was a character limit (or I would have said a tiny bit more), and no indication if the comment field accepts html, thus no links. Here are the direct links:

Rape Statistics

Guardian Article

Don't miss the Guardian article - spicy!

In fact, right in the "related links" blurbed inside the article is Briton bites policeman in Greece.

Video (nsfw): Chaos caused by British tourists
.

post by: taz at: 03:16 | 16 comments

Uh, the Times is owned by Rupert Murdoch, right? I rest my case.

posted by wendell 02 August | 03:41

You broke The Times, taz, the website is unavailable at present ;-)

posted by essexjan 02 August | 03:57

grrr. I'm just getting angrier by the minute... which is unusual for me (except for my flash anger - beware bunnies, doors will slam).

Greeks have kept (for the most part) the ancient habit of moderation in all things, and are not drinkers at all by any U.S. or U.K. standard, and I almost never see sexual harassment on the streets, or other aggressive, creepy sexual behavior.

In terms of drug use, there is an urban heroin problem among Greeks (like pretty much all large European cities), but I don't know how that stacks up with other countries. I do know that I feel 1,000 times safer here than I did in the U.S. (except for the driving. eep.) - so much so that it's a huge quality of life issue for me.

Reports like this scare away ordinary "good" British tourists, while the awful ones won't be dissuaded. Ugh.

posted by taz 02 August | 03:57

ha, Jan. Tremble before my power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

posted by taz 02 August | 03:58

Stupid Times can't even keep its stupid site online. Here is the headline of the article:

Try Greece for a dangerous holiday
Official figures show that more Britons suffer from rapes and hospitalisations in Greece than in any other country

And the beginning of the article:

More Britons were raped and hospitalised in Greece than in any other country, according to official figures out today.

The Foreign Office released figures showing that there were 48 reported rapes in the period from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006 - two years after the excess of Faliraki and Rhodes.

During the same period, 955 Britons were taken to hospital in Greece - more than in Spain and France combined. And Greece ranked third, behind only Spain and the USA for the number of travellers arrested.

After this, there is no elaboration on circumstances surrounding those rapes and injuries. But if you read the Guardian article, or view the video, it's not hard to figure out.

Apparently, demented hooligan Brits have heard that Greece is the place to come and do what they would never do (or get by with) at home, and, if anything, Greece has been guilty of failing to come down hard enough on them... so far. This is likely to change. There are places here that no Greeks would ever visit during the season, so as to avoid the insane British tourists.

posted by taz 02 August | 04:57

Also... I may come back later and delete/change the quoted headline part of my comment just above, because I don't want search engines to get more of those results than necessary... sorry.

posted by taz 02 August | 05:10

And it's not just in Greece, taz.

The behaviour that's so unattractive in every town centre in the UK on a Friday and Saturday night does not transplant well to foreign climes either.

posted by essexjan 02 August | 05:39

Shit. After reading that I can see that there's no help for Greece being unfairly branded as the country where you will get raped if you visit, which is so entirely untrue (assuming you hang out with Greeks, and not Brits). Wow.

There will be challenges to this, and possible retractions (or clarifications), but they won't be in the headlines, and this really sucks.

also, sorry about being so tunnel-vision about this, but... gah. It's always meant a lot to me that Greece is the way it is, and I despise this misinformation.

posted by taz 02 August | 05:50

Look at it this way, taz: if the rest of the world thinks it's a scary place, that leaves it less invaded and more enjoyable for you guys! (Do not apply this logic to Iraq.)

posted by chewatadistance 02 August | 06:38

I totally understand your anger about this.

posted by Wilder 02 August | 06:41

hm. Assholes still haven't posted my response (like, five hours later). Either they're fucking pigs and just waiting 'til no one will actually ever read it because it's embarrassing to them... or they are simply just really bad at handling their own web site.

So many clues indicating both, it's really hard to choose.

posted by taz 02 August | 09:50

Hee. And just this morning on NPR I heard a little blip about how Greece is letting people write off personal services on their taxes, like massages and manicures and even, they said, parties at tavernas, and I had this moment (not the first one, either) of total taz envy but now, hey, since I know it's so dangerous and all, well, hell, at least you can write off those tae kwon doh lessons that you'll need to keep the hooligans at bay. ;-)

posted by mygothlaundry 02 August | 10:44

Ha! I was wondering about all the perfect pedicures here. (Though mine, homemade, is pretty damn okay, I think... photos eventually!)

I hate to be all tinfoil-hatty, but Greece has been very resistant to all the Bush/Blair/Howard Iraq attack-attack stuff, and I wonder if we're not getting the pay-you-back shaft.

posted by taz 02 August | 10:53

Well... like eight or nine hours later, or something - and they still haven't published my comment. Fucking fuckheads.

posted by taz 02 August | 11:57

So if I go to Greece, taz will rape me.

Check.

posted by danf 02 August | 12:37

I have you on my list, danf.

posted by taz 02 August | 12:39

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