In the shadows of Rome, risks abound

By Shira Strassman

ROME, Nov. 28 — It’s a study-abroad student’s worst nightmare.  You come to Rome to live in a foreign culture and experience a whirlwind of travel adventures, and for one semester at least, it feels like you are living a dream.  Then, out of nowhere, your fantasy bubble bursts when a sexual assault casts a dark shadow over it all.

Between the savory pizza slices and the gelato cones, the weekend excursions to Capri and the attempted study sessions, it may be easy for study abroad students to forget that they are living in a real city, with real big-city dangers. Unfortunately, it sometimes takes the news of a tragedy—like the the sexual assaults of American students last month in Rome—to get students to think of their safety.

According to John Cabot University-employed psychologists Elisabeth Konda and Elaine Luti, victims of such crimes can experience a myriad of  psychological effects. These include: a feeling of detachment, self-hatred, shame, distancing oneself socially, feeling distressed and traumatic flashbackst. 

Some victims may feel numbness—that is, emotional paralysis from the incident.  But over time, according to Luti and Konda, other reactions can surface including: depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, physical lashing out (such as as cutting oneself), and, in extreme cases, suicide.

Another major problem arises from the fear of addressing the incident.  Hiding the matter and suppressing subsequent emotions is especially common amongst study-abroad students, Konda and Luti have found, this is because they are not surrounded by close friends or family in such a foreign setting.                                  

Unfortunately, sexual attacks, like other types of violence, are sometimes unpreventable.  But that doesn’t mean students should feel helpless.  Luti and Konda suggest specific methods of precaution.  They emphasize the importance of acknowledging major differences in cross-cultural communication; American students could be sending unintentional signs of sexual interest to locals. 

“Smiling at random men …even making eye contact…is not safe,” they say.  In the United States, these gestures are more often than not seen as good manners and friendliness. In Rome, however, they fall just short of a pick-up line, and you might be surprised to know who is getting the very wrong messages.

“One 80-year-old Italian man we know once said he thought a young woman must have been interested in him because, as they crossed in the escalator, she smiled at him!,” Luti and Konda recalled.

Getting into someone's car, accepting to go into someone's apartment, accepting a drink from someone you don't know really well may seem like common sense precautions, but these gestures should be taken seriously. They are all on Luti’s and Konda’s don’t-do list. In addition, being alone at night and drunk is a scenario wise to avoid.

If you have been a victim, seek help immediately, they advise. Report any incident to the police instantly, and hold onto all the physical evidence, including your clothing. Don’t go home and take a shower, which eliminates the evidence, go to the police first.  Following this immediate action, seek professional counseling.

“The counselors have plenty of experience helping victims of violence come to terms with their trauma and work through the emotional consequences,” Konda and Luti say.  “It's really important to talk.”

JCU students: To seek counseling or for more information on how to protect yourself, go to JCU’s internal web site and click on “student services,” or send an email directly to elaineluti@tin.it or elizabethkonda@yahoo.com.