#Viajosola: I travel alone because I want to

Madrid - A Spanish hashtag #Viajosola (I travel alone) is sweeping the internet as thousands of women speak up, defending their choice of travelling solo.

The social media campaign follows the deaths of two Argentinian backpackers. The bodies of Marina Menegazzo, 21, and Maria Jose Coni, 22, were found dumped on an Ecuadorian beach in plastic bags last month.

There was evidence to suggest they had been victims of extreme violence, having been robbed and killed while travelling through the South American country.

Following their deaths, many questioned why the pair had been travelling through Ecuador by themselves.

However, others have taken to social media to defend them.

Arches National Park. A crowd of cameras furiously snapped photos as Cami attempted to climb her way into the natural window. Half way up uncertainty brought her back to the ground and the tourists all pointed their cameras in different directions. #Utah #americathebeautiful #USA #visitutah #archesnationalpark #arches

A photo posted by Lizzy VanPatten (@lizzyvanpatten) on Mar 29, 2016 at 10:24pm PDT

A student named Guadalupe Acosta wrote a Facebook post that has been shared more than than 731 000 times. He highlighted the victim-blaming questions that had followed the friends’ deaths, including “What were they wearing?”, “Why do women travel alone?” and “Why were they alone?”

Writing from their perspective, he said: “Today I was killed. But worse than death was the humiliation that followed.”

After their bodies had been found, woman travellers created the hashtag #Viajosola. The movement is gaining traction on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as women across the world share the hashtag alongside images of their own solo journeys and post messages of solidarity encouraging independent travel.

The obligatory Baños pic of me dangerously swinging over a cliff and into the unknown while also pensively gazing over the cloud forest horizon .. #itsahoax #supersafe #sofuckingfuntho

A photo posted by marquis backpacks&mascara (@marquisanne_) on Mar 29, 2016 at 12:35pm PDT

One, Merely Jenson, said: “A woman should have the right to feel safe travelling alone.”

Writing on Instagram, Kristina Poljak said: “The death of two innocent girls seems to put blame on all of us who are courageous enough to have done the same, but have been lucky enough not to have crossed paths with violence and trouble.

“I am saddened by the deaths of these two young women. We should all be more careful, but we also shouldn’t give up doing whatever it is we want.”

On Instagram, elinatervo said: “I’m a woman and I travel alone. Do not blame women, blame criminals!”

Posting on Twitter, Twitterlessdad said: “#viajosola because my love for seeing the world and its cultures shouldn’t be jeopardised by the fact that I am a woman.”

Daily Mail