Strengthening sexual violence prevention in travel medicine: lessons from a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Abstract

The recent distressing incident involving the alleged gang rape of an Israeli female tourist and a local homestay operator in Karnataka,1 India, highlights crucial yet frequently overlooked dimensions of traveller safety, particularly female traveller health risks, within the field of travel medicine. Occurring only about 50 km from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hampi—a major tourist attraction—this case underscores the fact that even culturally significant and popular destinations are not immune to such crimes