Mohamed Al Fayed – latest: Harrods sex abuse claims ‘combined horrific parts of Savile, Epstein and Weinstein’
Survivors and lawyers speak at press conference on ‘horrific’ allegations of ‘corporate sexual exploitation’
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More than 20 women have accused former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed of sexual assault, including five who say they were raped.
“This is one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation that certainly I and perhaps the world has ever seen,” barrister Bruce Drummond told a press conference held by lawyers and victims on Friday.
Dean Armstrong KC said it “combines some of the most horrific elements of case involving Jimmy Saville, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein”.
The ex-employees, all female, said the Egyptian billionaire had assaulted them while working at the world-famous London department store, in allegations first revealed by the BBC documentary Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods.
After the allegations were revealed, another woman came forward to accuse him of “sickening” sexual abuse.
Al-Fayed, who is accused of abusing women in London, Paris, St Tropez and Abu Dhabi, died last year aged 94.
Harrods said it was “utterly appalled” by the allegations and said they were the actions of “someone intent on abusing his power wherever he operated”.
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673).
Survivor recalls attempted rape by Al-Fayed
Natacha, who formerly worked as Al-Fayed’s PA, recalled being summoned to his room, where she she would go through a “forced kiss, his hands gripping your face to his lip or pulling you down to his lap where his hands were free to explore any part of your body he wished”.
She was reminded not to tell anyone, being told that Al-Fayed would find out if she did. “I felt such fear and some sick loyalty as his employee. It was an era when women were still the underclass in the working world,” she said.
One night she was asked to stay late, and was summoned to Al-Fayed’s apartment on pretext of job review. Natacha was escorted by security guard who ushered her into his private sitting room and the door was locked behind her.
She was offered a glass of champagne. Sex toys were on view and his bedroom door was partially open, Natacha said, adding: “I felt petrified.”
Al-Fayed “pushed himself” onto her, before Natacha fell onto the floor with him still on top of her. “I managed to kick free and free myself, I ran towards the door. I told him I was meeting my father for dinner and he would be worried I was late,” Natacha said.
“He just laughed at me,” she said. He then “composed himself” and told her not to tell anyone – or she would never work in London again and that he knew where her family lived.
“I felt scared and sick. Eventually leaving Park Lane, I never stepped foot in his private office again,” Natacha said.
‘Call me Papa’, Al-Fayed told employee
Natacha was 19, and had moved to London before getting an interview with Harrods in a supporting role to his private PA.
She was interviewed by himself at his private office, and given the job.
She thought it was the “chance of a lifetime”, saying it was her “passport to a shining, high-power career”.
“He was clever and highly manipulative, he behaved like a father figure, saying call me Papa,” Natacha told the press conference. “Unbeknownst to me, I had worn into a lion’s den … the chairman prayed on the most vulnerable.”
She added: “Those who abuse need to know that its not OK. They need to know that one day, like today, they will be found out and exposed.”
The survivors ‘will be silenced no more’, says leading women’s rights lawyer
Leading women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred told the press conference: “He died without ever taking responsibility for what he did to many of his victims. These victims have suffered for years, even decades. They have lived with the shame, humiliation and the anguish that Mohammad al-Fayed and Harrods caused them.
“Al Fayed was determined to silence these women. They will be silenced no more.
“We are proud of all of the women who are coming forward to seek accountability. The good news is that civil justice is still available for them, and they will not rest.
“It is not enough for Harrods to now say that they are sorry … Justice demands that the victims receive meaningful accountability for what they suffered.”
Women were on receiving end of vile threats, barrister says
One employee was sexually assaulted and raised this in a formal written complaint to Harrods.
The head of security, John Mcnamara, allegedly said: “You are a girl alone in London, someone could jump out the bushes at you, or you could have a sudden accident. You need to deny what you have said in the first letter with a second letter, which you must drop off before noon.”
She did as she was told out of fear, Ms Mulla said.
Another woman was told she had been “disloyal” to the chairman, and she had to leave immediately.
If she spoke to press, she was told “in explicit terms that there would be serious consequences”, it was alleged.
She was subjected to threats, became mentally ill, suicidal, and admitted to psychiatric hospital for 6 months of her life. She was also left unable to create relationships with other men, losing out on the opportunity to have her own family, lawyers said.
Harrods doctor checked my ovaries and sent results to Mohamed Al-Fayed, claims former assistant
Former Harrods employees claim their gynaecological test results were sent directly to the department store’s ex-owner Mohamed Al Fayed, my colleague Holly Patrick reports.
Speaking in the BBC documentary Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods, the former staff members claimed they were told to undergo medical checkups — including an internal sexual health test — as “an extra perk of the job” and because Al Fayed’s son Dodi “had a low immune system”.
One woman claimed she had a smear test and a doctor checked her ovaries.
“My results were sent directly to the chairman so quickly that by the time I had got back to my desk, he knew the results,” she alleged.
Survivors had ‘private medical examination’
Women would be sent for a ‘private medical examination’ by 3 or 4 doctors after being selected by recruitment team, said barrister Maria Mulla.
This would involve a full body screening, sometimes including a cervical smear and an ovary check.
These checks would be done for roles as Al-Fayed’s secretary, personal assistant, or even interior designer.
Al-Fayed would make “degrading and humiliating comments personally about what he had been told at their medical examination”.
Harrods invites former employees to come forward with allegations
Harrods has set up a page on its website inviting former employees to come forward if they have any allegations.
‘This could be one of worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation world has ever seen,’ lawyer says
Bruce Drummond KC told the press conference: “This is one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation that certainly I and perhaps the world has ever seen.
“It was absolutely horrific. I cannot stress that word enough – it was horrific. It’s horrific because the acts carried out against these young women and girls – and I say girls, because most of them were only 19 to 24 at the time, and some were as young as 15 and 16.
“It’s horrific, because the system – and it was the system – that procured them was enabling the abuse of these young women. And it’s horrific because the effects that this sexual abuse and Harrods’ institutional betrayal has had on our clients.
“These effects have lasted years, and in some instances, for decades. And even continue to this day.”
‘I have never seen a case as horrific as this,' lawyer says
The press conference is now under way.
Dean Armstrong KC has said that, in “many years of practice”, he has “never seen a case as horrific as this”.
He said it “combines some of the most horrific elements of case involving Jimmy Saville, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein”.
“Saville because the institution knew about the behaviour, Epstein because there was a procurement system in palace to source the women and girls for abuse, Weinstein because it was a person at the very top who was abusing his power,” he said.
Harrods says it is ‘utterly appalled’ by allegations of abuse by late owner
Following the new allegation, Harrods’ current owners said they stood by a statement issued on Thursday which said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations of abuse.
It said Fayed was “intent on abusing his power wherever he operated” and accepted it had “failed” employees in its lack of response.
The department store has also set up a page on its website inviting former employees to come forward if they have any allegations.
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