‘I feared for my life’: stories of sexual harassment on the Camino de Santiago

Female pilgrims tell of terrifying aggression, the lingering effects and their belief that their cases are far from isolated

Women walking Camino de Santiago speak of ‘terrifying’ sexual harassment

It was on the outskirts of the northern Spanish town of Mieres, as she raced past colourful houses built of stone and wood-framed windows, that Sara Dhooma wrestled with the possibility that she might die.

Minutes earlier, the Canadian had been walking a remote section of the Camino de Santiago. After noticing a man was following her, she ducked into a cafe. When she re-emerged, the same man was seemingly waiting for her along another part of the ancient network of pilgrimage routes. This time he unzipped his trousers and grabbed his genitals.