There are many good free-to-access resources on the internet which provide advice on country-specific risks to travellers. Some of the best can be found on the respective foreign ministry websites of the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (listed under the Business Travel Security section on the ARC Website: http://www.arc-tc.com/pages/resources_publications.asp#B )Subscription services offer similar products, but these usually provide more in-depth analysis, with risks broken down into categories, often using a red, orange, green (traffic light) indicator system. Typically, these categories include Kidnap, General Crime and Street Violence, Political Stability and Unrest, Terrorism etc.
Rarely, however, are the issues of racism and sexual harassment given their own category indicators. Perhaps this is because these are sensitive issues. But for those planning to send staff overseas these should be very real concerns.
For example, if a female employee is being asked to travel to a country in which it can be reasonably expected that she will be sexually harassed and propositioned, isn’t there a duty of care on the company to identify, assess and manage this risk, however sensitive?
Similarly, if an employee of South Asian or Afro-Caribbean origin is required to go to a country such as Ukraine - where, according to Amnesty International, minorities are living in a climate of fear of thousands of racist skinheads, who have allegedly killed four foreigners this year (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7499364.stm ) - surely there must be a duty of care, and a mechanism, to assess, and manage, this significantly elevated risk of becoming a victim of violence.
These delicate issues have been raised at recent ARC Training Business Travel Security Workshops, where delegates, themselves often representing diverse ethnic backgrounds, unanimously agree that while companies should not discriminate over whom they send on overseas business assignments, these special risks must be identified, assessed and managed.
For more on business travel security awareness training contact David.
