Hotel Maids or service people long had a tough job augmented by dangers that were often subdued and kept from the glare of the media. But since IMF Head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was accused of sexually assaulting the hotel maid at the Pierre Hotel, in New York City, the dangers of working in the large hotels have come to light.
Now the instance of assault or even sexual advancements are relatively few when stacked up against the sheer volume of hotels and the number of hotel guests in any given week. The general rule is that hotel maids are free to go on about their work with guests pressing upon them for little more than an extra towel. But then with most general rules there are exceptions. There are times when guests do solicit the maid for sexual favors. There are fewer times when the guests may get physical.
Now a second New York hotel housekeeper has also made an accusation. In response, according to the Wall Street Journal, the Pierre and Sofitel Hotels will now provide their housekeepers with wireless devices to alert managers if they are attacked. The housekeeping union wants these wire devices made available to the hotel maids in 150 of New York’s hotels.
According to the Journal, “The problem of hotel maids being inappropriately groped or propositioned has been known for a long time,” said Rory Lancman, a New York state assemblyman from Queens. “They need to have as much protection as possible, and that means equipment and that means policies that protect them.”
Law enforcement recommends that assaults against maids not be delayed but reported as soon as possible. Prompt reports will yield much more accurate forensic evidence.
