More than 20 women have accused former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed of either sexually assaulting or raping them while they worked at the store. The women had been afraid to come forward, some thinking that the film crews approaching them were working for Al Fayed’s associates. Many survivors described being in prison by an intense sense of fear that prevented them from speaking out for years. In this context, the women’s bravery is even more commendable. It is indeed praising, given that Al Fayed used money and power throughout his life to bully and intimidate his way into getting what he wanted.
In the early 1990s, a government investigation established that Al Fayed had lied when he acquired Harrods. He went on to deploy dirty tricks against Tiny Rowland, his rival in buying the business, and was accused of stealing items from his safety deposit box at the store. Al Fayed caused the downfall of Tory politicians by bribing them to ask questions in parliament. He became even more feared after creating an intimidating atmosphere at Harrods, where he had a phalanx of bodyguards protecting him around the clock, and surveillance equipment was installed in backroom offices.
Al Fayed also corrupted the store’s HR department, which played a role in promoting young women from the shop floor to work in his executive suite, aware of his interest in them. Among his victims is Gemma, one of his former personal assistants, who said he raped her at his villa in France after she woke up to find him next to her bed. After the incident, she cried while he got up and told her aggressively to wash herself with Dettol.
With Al Fayed being dead, many survivors decided to speak out only after his death because they felt it was finally safe enough to do so. Besides, some were angered by the positive way he was portrayed in the Netflix series “The Crown”, which they feel is a rewriting of history. “It feels good to change the legacy of a man who really was a monster,” says Natacha, another of Al Fayed’s victims. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, she said, “I finally have the opportunity and freedom to speak up. I no longer feel afraid, so I speak for my daughters, my nieces… and all the survivors of sexual abuse in this room today who were silenced for so many years.
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