Thread: Crime and Student Safety (Current AUA Students Please Answer)

It is a lot safer here than donwtown Chicago.

i honestly have never felt unsafe here, although i still use caution and never go anywhere by myself at night. its a new country so def use caution and good judgement as you would in an new place..

thank you for the feedback..i feel a lot better. i'll be starting med1 in january =)

never felt unsafe on the island

i used to jog around in the hood sometimes without any problems. locals are chill as heck

I use to leave my door unlocked at night sometimes, something I would never consider doing in certain U.S. cities. There were two murders on the island when I was there but it was on tourists walking a deserted beach at night. It was all over the news and the police had a huge search going on until the guy was caught. the Island is small, which means its only a matter of time before these guys get caught. And when crime goes on there are signs everywhere about calling in for any information on "THE murderer" or "THE rapist". There is not much crime making any1 who does commit a crime a prime target. Use common sense and you will be quite safe. Antigua is definitely one of the best islands in terms of quality of living and being safe.

Originally Posted by lenlenjoy

hello,

I am concerned about the safety of students at AUA. I have read numerous posts of AUA students getting robbed and even more posts concerning the high incidence of crime on the island of Antigua. I would just like to ask current AUA students about how safe they feel in Antigua? has there been recent robberies/attacks on students/faculty? And what extra measures has AUA implemented to ensure the safety of their students?

I have been here and was a little apprehensive as well. But so far things have been good. I still take precautions especially at night and I always lock my door. But the locals are very nice especially when you say hello to them. They are very helpful and welcoming.

sensitive issue ... I must say !

It's hard to find comparative statistics, but Wikipedia murder rates by country are (pulling countries listed as 'Caribbean' on the right column of their table) :
Jamaica 40.9
US Virgin Islands 39.2
Trinidad and Tobago 35.2
St. Kitts & Nevis 38.2
Puerto Rico 26.2
St. Lucia 26.2
Dominican Republic 25.0
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 22.9
Dominica 22.1
Montserrat 19.7
Grenada 11.5
Barbados 11.3
Turks & Caicos 8.7
British Virgin islands 8.6
Cayman Islands 8.4
Guadeloupe 7.0
Haiti 6.9
Anguilla 6.8
Antiguia & Barbuda 6.8 *****
Cuba 5.0
Martinique 4.2
For comparison, the US is 4.7, Mexico is 23.7 and Canada is 1.6
In fact there isn't a medical school available on a Caribbean island with a lower homicide rate.