Ladies and gents, if you are the latter then this article is mainly for you, especially if you’re planning a trip to Colombia.

As for you ladies, this time I won’t tell you to watch out, besides common sense of course. I will, however, tell you as common courtesy to watch out for your guy friends’ safety. Let me start from the beginning.

When travelling in Latin America, we were warned about every single country before we went to it only to feel completely safe when we arrived. The only place where we heard unanimous warnings from other travellers about the safety situation there was Colombia.

“Beautiful country tho”, they proceeded to add. Simultaneously, my parents were hearing about the same issue except from news outlets, and here is where our knowledge differed:

The news reported that tourists are getting drugged and robbed, especially in the city of Medellin; accurate yet way too oversimplified. Nonetheless, it got my parents worried before they could realise that being a girl this time worked in my favour.

The gender roles were reversed; it was the men who were being targeted by the Colombian women, both on dating apps and in person.

Prostitution in Colombia was surprisingly popular and potentially deadly. We were seeing girls on the streets that seemed half our age, and we were just past the legal age in the US. And guys were coming all the way to fulfil their fantasies of finding their Shakiras and Sofia Vergaras.

The combination of the over-sexualisation of Colombian women by foreign men, alongside with the growing poverty level that the locals suffer from, led to the perfect recipe for a booming prostitution economy. So much so that the competition grew between the Colombians and refugees from Venezuela, as we all know that tourists won’t know the difference.

Both groups, however, would try to taint the other’s reputation by saying “Don’t go to her, she’s Venezuelan”, or “You might want to avoid that girl, she has Aids; come to my daughter instead.”

Consequently, just like tourists take advantage of a prostitute’s economic situation, a prostitute takes advantage of him right back.

News outlets were reporting that the men were being drugged, which makes our uncreative minds think of drinks getting roofied or possibly a needle injection.

But if you thought yourself smart enough to avoid these traps, you might be surprised that their tactics go beyond that. Some go as far as putting the drugs on and around their skin, so when it comes in contact with someone’s mouth, this seven minutes in heaven act will be the last thing they remember of the night. I don’t know how worth it this will all seem in the aftermath when all their belongings get sold at a black market somewhere.

The danger, however, sparks from the unmeasured quantity of the drugs used leading to overdose in many cases.

This was not the gender inequality issue that we wanted to win but the one we got. Other male travellers were experiencing for the first time what it might be like being a woman dating or walking on the streets.

Songs like Beyonce’s “If I Was a Boy” came to mind as we were telling our guy friends, jokingly or not, to not walk alone and to text us when they get back safely. All these depictions of switching gender roles in an ironic instance felt true. But what was still appalling is that some men were willing to take the risk just to get with a hot chica.

Of course, unfortunately, some men who did not participate in these sorts of activities also got caught up with the same outcome, but likewise many also didn’t. So there is no rule that says Men plus Colombia equals danger, same as there is no rule which says that solo travelling as a girl equals danger either.

Most of the time, if you take safety precautions in a place that is not a red zone, then you should be as safe as you are back home.

The only rule that could 100% guarantee your safety is to miss out and stay between four walls, in which case you might die of vitamin D deficiency, a genetic disease or diabetes.

So maybe travel instead, hopefully with a less entitled mindset and lots of awareness. Thank me later!