Thread by @LindseyKukunda

I'm being tagged in a #conversation about the #safety of #women travelling to #Tanzania. I shall repeat my story to #caution women who want to travel there. A thread.

I went to Tanzania as a #tourist. Depending on where you are, I would call it a very #unsafe place especially for solo travelers. There are rules I wasn't aware of which turned my 'holiday' into a nightmare.

I was #attacked by a mob on my first day. Fists flew, blows pounded on my body and head for 'indecent' dressing. It was when one woman lifted my dress and started to pull down my underwear did I say, "Fuck this shit'.

I also have fists. They flew. They tried to undress me in vain. They failed. A man rescued me but when I was in the car, one of the mob reached through the window and begun to strangle me. His scream when I punched him HARD in the eye was like nectar.

The man said I could not be Tanzanian because the girls don't fight like that. One of my beaters came to my hotel and apologized, "We don't beat foreigners. Only Tanzanian women".

I spent a week in sweltering heat wrapped in sweaters, jeans, anything to hide any part of my body that would invite violence. Where I was, beaches are not for bikinis please. Keep ALL your clothes on.

Anything with a penis owns you. I was traumatized. One day I was smoking and a 12 year old brat came to lecture me. What do you think a grown man would have done? I'll tell you. They ignored my greetings at every hotel if I was smoking. One man looked like he would punch me.

I'm not the first Ugandan this has happened to so it's not a one-off. Do your research about the area you're visiting and always have a man with you.

@Phyllees @trvlngonstrdst

Don't ever involve the police. I suspect you shall be locked up as the country polices women's clothes as a matter of course. Also, you are the property of ALL men. Makes Ugandans seem downright chivalrous.