work trip not what it seemed :/

[biokult]

Accepted a job of which international travel was involved, was very lucky in that I had a couple offers, which I turned down for my current position. Country is considered unsafe, however the insitute I would be based at is in a tourist-y area which is why I was comfortable agreeing.

Things have been very rushed due to lack of staff, and feel like my queries are not being answered.

My current dilemna is thus: a member of the team mentioned they would be based at a certain site, which was not the area I had expected to working in. I would then be expected to commute there via taxi, or "maybe collegues can drop you". I said no problem, assuming that if it was part of their company the area would also be fine.

Have since looked up the area and it is dodgy AF, yougov strongly recommend avoiding this and similar neighbourhoods. If you must go there you should have a local guide/security. Cabs will often refuse to pick you up from there due to high crime rate. I do not want to rely on collegues I do not for lifts in case they let me down and I am stuck.

I have agreed to the trip, although had this detail been made clear I would've said no. I feel like no precuations have been put in place, or discussed with me.

Please help me navigate this. My sister & her partner (who I live with) are being incredibly unhelpful, telling me to quit on the spot and no job is worth my life or being assualted etc etc. Obviously this is true, but I also want to maintain good working relationships and ideally not be unemployed!

Pretty pissed off tbh, anyone been in similar situations?

No job is worth your personal safety.

Please don't go OP.

I work for an organisation which operates in all sorts of places and they should be all over the risk assessment here.

For areas like you are describing, they would simply never send a woman. Ever. The risk is too high.

Even the men who would be sent would have armed guards, trained named drivers etc.

There are plenty of areas where we simply will not send international staff & will only use local employees.

Do. Not. Go.

CompassPoint thanks for that insight. It is difficult to fathom living in that sort of world.

One thing I don't understand is the vulnerability of women (white or pretty, just going by your previous posts). I of course understand that lone women can be singled out as easy prey for sexual violence. Presumably those sorts of attack could be relatively easily prevented by security. However, it sounds like crime gangs would also target women - is it for sex trafficking?

You're welcome blueshoes its an awful world to live in.

Trigger warning for rape and sexual violence:

White and pretty are preferred, but all women are targets. White in their minds equals rich, foreign white woman are usually kidnapped for ransom, but will almost definitely be raped while kidnapped.
Yes, good security should be fairly adept at stopping random attacks of sexual violence, but when foreign women are targeted it is usually more than "just" sexual violence. Women are seen as easy targets too. Culturally there is little respect for women, and violence against women is so common as to be almost normal.

Sexual violence is a preferred punishment of the enforcers when dealing with locals for a number of reasons, not just as it is still seen in many circles as a disgrace to the family to have a "ruined" daughter or wife. For some of the more major "betrayals" daughters will sometimes be taken away, most frequently for gang use, then put to work in gang owned brothels when they're bored of her.

Trafficking to order is also common, they will have people on the look out for girls who fit the specifications they've been given, those requests are usually filled from locals/migrant workers from rural areas who aren't playing by the rules, paying protection money etc. Sometimes kidnapped foreign women whose ransom hasn't been paid end up trafficked, or if the buyer is offering enough money to make it worth the hassle (ie has some unusual/rare specifications) then foreign women will be kidnapped for that reason.

Whilst it is horrible to say, any local with pretty daughters is an immediate target, the gangs will go after them first politely, ask to date them, but if they refuse they'll find a reason to go after them.

Sorry, not an easy subject to talk about, and one I avoid like the plague in real life. I think its important though as the more brutal reality is usually hidden from the international community. It would be bad for tourism.

CompassPoint

I don't know how my dd and I won the sexual exploitation lottery by happening to be born in a country that is not lawless.

OP, apologies for the hijack

@biokult your company are being shit. If your contacts are unwell then someone senior to them needs to step in. If that’s not possible then everything has to be out on hold. End of. They are sending you to a place that is very dangerous to you regardless of the situation for anyone else. This is not a day trip to Basingstoke!

Yes, loads of people live in these areas and go about their daily lives. One can also often travel quite low key to such places because they also appear like a local. A British woman working for a foreign company? That’s a whole different ballgame.

Now is the time for a lot of “I’m afraid I can’t proceed with any plans until X, Y and Z are addressed”. An employee needs to follow reasonable directions. It is NOT a reasonable direction to go to a high risk area without the proper assessments and protocols in place. It’s for their benefit too. Imagine if you were abducted/attacked/killed - that’d be major news and not good for their business. This isn’t you being too chicken to travel. This is professional best practice for work in dangerous regions.

Yes, sometimes the FO warnings are a little OTT. Heck, sometimes the danger is very low (the UK has had terror attacks which raises the warnings to people in other countries, but realistically most people are safe). However, Mexico, while I’m sure a country of wonderful people, is also seriously damaged by the cartels. Violence is common in a way we cannot comprehend. Locals can manage for the most part, they know who to be wary of (though that’s not a guarantee and might involve turning a blind eye to thinks they’d prefer to report. But report to who? It’s very challenging for the police to stay independent too).
You are a whole different level of vulnerability. Please don’t compare yourself to them. The local team will understand.

@Sweepingeyelashes and @CompassPoint you both have hardcore relatives who sound absolutely awesome when things get bad. Good for them, they must’ve been so scared with you both to protect. I feel ridiculously proud of people I don’t know.

My sister & her partner (who I live with) are being incredibly unhelpful, telling me to quit on the spot and no job is worth my life or being assaulted etc etc. Obviously this is true, but I also want to maintain good working relationships and ideally not be unemployed!

They're actually being incredibly helpful and sensible. It's better to be (temporarily) unemployed than dead.

There's no way in hell I'd be accepting this assignment. No job or situation is worth your life.

Why would you want to maintain a "good" working relationship with people who clearly don't give two figs about your life or safety?

What part of Mexico are you supposed to be going to, OP?

I'm not certain about foreign women being kidnapped, as I haven't heard a thing about it and I am on several Expat pages on fb, where a lot of the people seem to be very wealthy and are coming to Mexico in their droves.

Aren’t you getting a bit ahead of yourself? As far as I can understand from your OP, it’s just a colleague that has suggested you go to their site. You haven’t been asked by your manager to go and furthermore, your manager hasn’t even responded to you about it, never mind actually signed off your travel.

I have lots of work colleagues who would like my physical presence at their site but just because they say jump, I don’t need to ask how high. Can’t you just explain that travel to this site hasn’t been highlighted to you as a priority at the moment and from your own research, doesn’t seem advisable?

It doesn’t even sound like you have a thorough grasp of why they think they need you on-site so I would suggest focusing on working with them remotely to get a better understanding of the requirements before haring off to potentially dangerous localities.

Oh god. DD off to Mexico for 3 weeks. Some touristy bits then travelling. 😳

@nancynoname

My sister & her partner (who I live with) are being incredibly unhelpful, telling me to quit on the spot and no job is worth my life or being assaulted etc etc. Obviously this is true, but I also want to maintain good working relationships and ideally not be unemployed!

They're actually being incredibly helpful and sensible. It's better to be (temporarily) unemployed than dead.

There's no way in hell I'd be accepting this assignment. No job or situation is worth your life.

Why would you want to maintain a "good" working relationship with people who clearly don't give two figs about your life or safety?

I don't think they are in the slightest. There's a whole load of options that can go between being forced into an unsafe work trip and quitting your job

I could

• go with a proper risk mititigation set up that I'm happy with
• go with the proviso I won't go the dodgy site and will stay where I expected to be

-refuse to go at all, manage entirely from the UK

If none of these options work out I'd be wanting them to fire me rather than quitting on the spot, and have to go through the whole HR process. I don't know too much about it, but I'm assuming I'd have a case for unfair dismissal?

Why would you want to maintain a "good" working relationship with people who clearly don't give two figs about your life or safety?

I think comments like this are a little unfair. I work in a competitive field where everyone knows each other and relationships are important. My manager is senior and well regarded. I am very junior. In life, ideally it would be fantastic to be able to tell people exactly what you think of them and why, but I want to try and handle this diplomatically.

To be fair, I also don't think I have enough details yet to work out if this is the situation. I'm having a meeting on Friday (when manager is back) to discuss this, and will be able to gauge a lot from their reaction.

@Wilkolampshade

Oh god. DD off to Mexico for 3 weeks. Some touristy bits then travelling. 😳

Please don't stress @Wilkolampshade

The great thing about travelling is that your DD can choose exactly where she wants to be and leave any situation she doesn't feel safe in. As long as she does her research and is careful I'm sure she'll have a great time :)

For me it's a bit different as I'm going to be in situations where the people who are paying me are expecting me to go this dodgy site - could lead to situations where I'm pressured into staying late for meetings, going out for dinner where I don't feel safe, maybe running an errand in unfamiliar streets. There's obviously a lot more pressure to be agreeable and actually do your job.

Who is in charge for security for the company? Who is in charge of journey management?
You need to ask to speak to that person so they can give you a full briefing.
Stick to your guns, do not travel until they can show you all the risk mitigation procedures that have been put into place.

@NorthFaceofthelaundrypile

Who is in charge for security for the company? Who is in charge of journey management? You need to ask to speak to that person so they can give you a full briefing. Stick to your guns, do not travel until they can show you all the risk mitigation procedures that have been put into place.

In terms of security management and security I think it would fall under HR

The thing that is confusing me, and what seems to go against what other have said is normal practise, is HR told me to do the risk assessment & mitigation procedures myself.

Obviously I'm not an expert, and it would be down to my line manager to advise, and given that she hadn't even mentioned a risk assemment would need to be done, I'm concerned they won't take it as seriously as they should?

Oh god. DD off to Mexico for 3 weeks. Some touristy bits then travelling

Mexico is the third most popular country with tourists in the world.

It is a huge country but for some reason the OP does not want to say specifically where she is going, as she prefers to malign the entire country

@Coyoacan

Oh god. DD off to Mexico for 3 weeks. Some touristy bits then travelling

Mexico is the third most popular country with tourists in the world.

It is a huge country but for some reason the OP does not want to say specifically where she is going, as she prefers to malign the entire country

but for some reason the OP does not want to say specifically where she is going, as she prefers to malign the entire country

Sorry what @Coyoacan?

I have explained the trip was planned to a perfectly safe part of Mexico, as most of it is if you are sensible.

My issue is that I am expected to go to a specific neighbourhood, which locals have told me is incredibly dangerous and the FO says avoid. How is this me "preferring to malign the whole country"?

I haven't said specifically where I'm going, as it will be obvious who I work for and probably who I am

Also accepted the job, knowing it involved working with Mexico, travelling to Mexico, liasing with Mexican collegues, and hopefully contributing to improving a small part of QoL for.....Mexico @Coyoacan

I live in the US, in an area with lots of Mexicans. Some of my friends and colleagues are Mexican. They go back home to visit, sometimes they drive, sometimes they fly. Being they are from Mexico you would think they are safe, visiting family. Wrong. They look different, due to clothing, they're well taken care of, even they are targets. I will never, ever visit Mexico from the stories I've heard from them.
I have another white friend, been to a very touristy resort multiple times. You are to ONLY stay on the resort, and the journey to and from the airport can be scary.

You say you speak Spanish. Is it Mexican Spanish or European? There is a difference, they will know. It is a genuine question, you don't have to answer it, but something to think about.

The Mexican cartel are not to be messed with. I wouldn't trust any locals either, because they will put the safety of their family above yours.

Meet with your manager, express your concerns & go from there. I would listen to your sister though.

You say you speak Spanish. Is it Mexican Spanish or European? There is a difference, they will know. It is a genuine question, you don't have to answer it, but something to think about.

European - even if it wasn't I'll definitely come across as a white tourist.

This is one of the (many) reasons I'm not comfortable going to the neighbourhood suggested.

Thanks blueshoes and @tcjotm I am one of the lucky ones, I got out. The majority are not as fortunate. My sister didn't get away without punishment for it either, but that isn't something I want to think about. Apologies OP to derail.

You say you speak Spanish. Is it Mexican Spanish or European? There is a difference, they will know.
Not to be defeatist but they'll know anyway, local dialects and slang are very specific.

OP it isn't just yourself you may be putting at risk if you go to the dodgy site, its your colleagues and their families. If something even relatively minor happens to you and they try to defuse the situation in any way, or even just if they are with you at the time they may end up caught up in cartel business.

I'm not certain about foreign women being kidnapped, as I haven't heard a thing about it and I am on several Expat pages on fb, where a lot of the people seem to be very wealthy and are coming to Mexico in their droves.

If you had grown up watching it happen and heard the screaming and begging for someone to help and had to pretend not to hear or see you would be certain. It burns into your mind. That is very, very far from the worst thing I "didn't" see either.

And you do not honestly think the wealthy live in, or ever travel to these areas do you? In the Government's eyes if you travel to dodgy areas you had it coming. Unless of course you're very, very wealthy or influential, but in those cases you would likely have the best security or a direct agreement with the cartels and would be left alone anyway.
The Mexican Government treats wealthy expats (and the Mexican elite) very differently from the poor.

OP could you suggest the compromise of the local staff travelling to the safer site? Is that possible within what you need to do? Do not worry about them being annoyed at you wanting to be treated differently, they will likely be very relieved as it makes it safer for them too.