Costa Rica News – What happens if you are on a study abroad program and you are sexually assaulted or raped? Although this situation very rarely occurs in Costa Rica it is a situation that needs to be responded to professionally. This is a story of this occurring in Costa Rica and the response that took place. You can make your own decision if it was handled correctly or not.
On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, Fran Lindau got a disturbing phone call. A student from the study abroad program she runs had been raped during a weekend trip to the beach. It was a friend of the girl who made the call.
The girl wanted arrangements to get emergency contraception, without going to a clinic. Doctors were called and research done. It was found out that Plan B is not legal in Costa Rica, but there are other birth control pills that can be combined to have the same effect.
The next day, Lindau reported the situation to her supervisor, Debra Hamilton. Lindau was in trouble for the delay and her efforts to help the girl. She was fired and the victim was harassed by Hamilton into signing a legal waiver. She was forced to report the incident to police, against her wishes.
The victim said, “I cannot continue in the knowledge that [Hamilton] has not only not been reprimanded for how she treated me, but that the very people who helped me have been punished instead.”
This is definitely a response gone terribly wrong by the Monteverde Institute. Those who helped the girl shouldn’t have been fired or reprimanded, as they acted as human beings, supporting a women who had to face a tragic situation.
To read the entire story in more detail click here.
