Harrods victims paid price of prestige

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Jen and Cheska are among hundreds of women who have accused the late Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual assault and they have told Agence France-Presse of their “huge anger” that his alleged campaign of abuse and humiliation went unpunished.

“It looked like the dream job,” said Jen, who was 16 when she joined the London department store considered to be the height of glamor.

But the prestige came at a price. Lawyers said Friday that more than 400 women and witnesses linked to Harrods, Fulham football club, the Ritz hotel in Paris and other Fayed entities have come forward in the past six weeks to allege that he raped or assaulted them.

Jen worked at the London store from 1986, a year after the billionaire bought it, until 1991.

Cheska Hill-Wood was 19 in 1994 when she began working for the former tycoon, who died last year at the age of 94.

Fayed was there from the moment they interviewed, they explained.

Cheska, who was an art student, believes Fayed’s team spotted her photo in a magazine before she was contacted by Harrods.

“I guess my face fitted his requirements. I was young and very naive,” she said.

After being hired, a Harrods doctor subjected Jen and Cheska to gynaecological examinations.

“The doctor made no bones about the fact that I was being checked to make sure that I was clean,” said Jen, who is now 54.

“And when I asked him what that meant, he said he needed to know that I was a virgin.”

‘Terrified’

Fayed demanded that she never have a boyfriend.

“We weren’t allowed to have any sexual relationships with anybody,” she explained.

During five years at Harrods, Jen said she suffered “several sexual assaults” and attempted rape in Fayed’s office and at his London residence on Park Lane.

Harrods has said that it has been contacted by more than 250 people seeking to negotiate an out-of-court settlement. London police says it has been contacted by 60 people, with accusations stretching back to 1979.

Jen said she “was ashamed” and “too terrified” to tell colleagues or her family about the assaults at the time.

Like many other accusers, she talked about phones being tapped and cameras in the offices.

When she had a secret romantic relationship, Fayed summoned her and gave her a list of the places the couple had been seen together, confirming her fears of being followed.

“It made me realize that it wasn’t paranoia, it was actually happening.”

“I hoped I was the only one,” said Jen, adding she was “horrified” by the number of people coming forward to accuse Fayed.

The catalyst was the airing of the BBC documentary “Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods” in September.

After the broadcast, Harrods, which was taken over by Qatari interests in 2010, “condemned” the behavior of its former owner and apologized for abandoning the “victims.”

Jen, who asked that her last name not be used, waited until the day after the documentary aired to tell her husband and parents of her experience at Harrods.