Guest Sexually Harassed Me-- what number do I call?

[Olivia68]

Good evening, 

One of my guests repeately asked me if I had a boyfriend (I do, and said so), and repeatedly made grabs for my lower back. After I dodged a few grabs, he succeeded in grabbing my ass when I bent over to plug something in. I swatted his hand off, yelled, "no, I REALLY have a boyfriend," and jumped away from him. As I was showing him the patio, he tried to kiss me. Again, I swatted. Then I told him that I was going to go, and when I went inside to retrieve my purse before leaving, he blocked the door in an effort to keep me inside. I had to hit him to make him leave the door. 

Any ideas on what phone number I should call to report them? This guy is scheduled to stay at my place for a week. 

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Olivia68

I really feel for you and what you went through, but I do not understand why within minutes of him assualting you (and grabbing your back is assualt) you were not on the phone to the police. You put yourself in danger and I fail to understand that. This was a criminal offence.

AirBnB are not the police, they can't question someone about an assault, they can't order someone off your property. They are not the emergency services.

I am really glad it wasn't more serious - but to any host reading this, when a guest does anything that amounts to assault, or threatens you, then you pick up the phone to the police first and have them come to you urgently. End of lecture..

[Mandi-S-Just-Business-Ro0]

Actually, I DO understand why Olivia didn't just throw him out.

 I am 64, well educated, and highly rated on Air. But also weakened by pneumonia, and my partner was out of town.

Last week i had a guest with 59 reviews stay. He went overboard fixing things around the house to the point where I had to ask him to stop. By way of goodwill, I was happy to share dinner with him. He interpreted this as "free food". 

Over 4 nights he brought in a bottle of wine for us (no alcohol allowed here) and made remarks about my appearance. Then he started sliding in crude remarks and sitting closer and closer to me on the sofa while I was knitting. On his last night, after speaking on the phone with my partner, he listened in, then started up again about his "massages" and reached over and touched my leg. I immediately stood up and said "Please do not touch me!" and went to bed, locking my door. The next morning he was back at it doing yardwork even though I'd asked him to stop. 

I would like to tell you that I called the police and had him removed immediately. I would like to tell you that I've never encountered sexual harassment before.

But the truth is that I was sick, confused and intimidated by his equity on Airbnb. And Airbnb did nothing. I mean, what can they do?

Having had the chance to collect myself, I will be filing a report with both the police and the Human Rights Commission. I have to do it in stages because I'm still pretty ill. I will also post a stealth review that tells the truth.

But I will also add that telling people what they should or shouldn't have done in the face of harassment is unconstructive and quite frankly mean. Olivia deserves our support, not our criticism.

[Violette11]

How do you file a report with human rights commission and police if they havent completely done anything yet like airbnb told me.they said they are helpless.so ething similiar happ.i went to police and they said they cannot question the perpetrators until they really do something but they acknowledged i was harassed

[Olivia68]

I'm sorry this happened. I would recommend filing a complaint with the police and asking your local police to escort your harassers out of your home they haven't already left. If financial compensation is on the line, it shouldn't be-- once you get the police involved, airbnb has to take your complaint more seriously and give you the previously agreed-upon sum for the duration that these people would have stayed had they not harrassed you. I would get local law enforcement involved and then tell airbnb that they need to erase the profiles of your harassesrs.

[Victoria567]

Mandi here in the UK we in this country would construe this as sending out the wrong signals to this guest to the point of leading him on.

I mean you have a male guest who is already acting in an entitled way around your home.

You then let him cross your personal boundaries by offering him a meal for his entitled behaviour including bringing alcohol into the mix and naively wonder why this entitled guest starts to act Fresh!

common now Ibwould have thought that a lady of your advanced years should know better!

Sorry but your behaviour is disingenuous more suited to a 15 year old girl with no experience of the wider world

[Victoria567]

Hi @Olivia0

the behaviour by these predatory low life's is totally unacceptable.

I think in the heat of the moment you inadvertently  perhaps made the unwise statement to air bnb that the money was more important. This may have trivialised your traumatic experience in the opinion of air bnb who wrongly assumed .... Hey this woman is making a serious allegation regarding sexual misconduct but instead she is more worried and focusing on the money aspect of this allegation instead, and the result is, that air bnb are not treating this dreadful misconduct with the severity it deserves.

Name and shame these skunks write a review to warn other hosts of what they are inviting into their home.

I would have phoned the police ASAP too as you did and a women's aid group too.

[Aimée6]

Hey there, sorry for your experience in general.  Your recount really struck a chord with me and yes I agree that the bro culture and blaming women for unwanted sexual assaults is so ridiculous and inappropriate.  IDK what some men think but I just had a guest who asked me to have a beer with him (I declined) and then later offered to give me a massage (decline again).  It made me feel so uncomfortable that I did call my BF and ask him to come over.  If I didn't have a BF I would have called my bestie and she would have F*K*D his ass up lol.  In general I am beside myself as to why a stranger who you trust in your home feels comfortable enough to hit on the hostess.  I told him directly the next day that it was inappropriate and made me feel uncomfortable.  He apologized profusely but the damage had already been done.  Some people are just so out to lunch on the issues of how to treat a fellow human being with respect. SMH.  Stay strong and know that you have support.  🙂

[Greg93]

911..the police

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Olivia68 I am very sorry that it happened to you 😞

So, as I understood from your experience the best way it would be to call the police and to kick him out of the property. Then contact Airbnb and inform them what happened.

If he wants to cancel after that you will still get some money according to your cancelation policy.

I am wrong?

[Helen3]

Hi @Olivia68

It is terrible that these men sexually assaulted you in your own home but I was beyond shocked that you said to Airbnb 'that the money was more important to me than my safety'. And that you seem to be more worried about losing income than the assault.

When you prepare and invest money in your home to rent it out, it is not for just one set of guests but a long term investment for all the guests you will have.

Men who feel its okay to sexually assault someone in their own home, are likely to do this to other single/vulnerable female hosts, who may not be able to protect themselves and may not have somewhere else to stay. It is crucial that Airbnb remove them as guests from the platform.

I agree with others, after ensuring your safety, your first call should have been to the police to have these men removed and charged. I don't know how the police work in the US but in the UK any sexual assault is taken seriously and these men would not have been allowed to return to your home.

I agree that Airbnb should have cancelled the booking, and booted these guys off their site so they can't be a danger to future hosts. It should have been treated as a guest cancellation and you should have been able to keep any payment in line with your cancellation policy.

I do hope going forward you will ensure any guests have verified ID and you don't use Instant Book so you have time to chat to your guests and find out about them and their plans before accepting a booking.

[Christine615]

The only comment I can add is that Uber wasn't screening drivers and when women were raped they discovered that Uber wanted them to use the arbitration clause. Public outcry caused Uber to change their policies and give the women their legal rights back.

Call the police to evict the men (make sure you document - use your phone to take video of the men's behavior if needed). Then call journalists and report Airbnb's behavior towards their safety. A lot of publicity tends to cause CEO's to stand up and pay attention. Airbnb needs to put grown-ups in their customer service department. If a host is in danger, refunding the fees - especially when the activity is illegal - is outrageous. Airbnb should be calling the police. They also need to have liaisons located in every city where they have a major presence to take care of issues on the ground (not from far away).

[Victoria567]

Also @Olivia0

I would not give these sexual predators 7 seconds never mind 7 nights in my home.

Pack their bags and remove it all outside to the pavement and change the lock in your front door ASAP.

Just get them out then phone air bnb for them to get your money back .

I don't my guests a key to my home as they are strangers and you don't know what you ate inviting into your home as you've just found out.

Personal safety is paramount.... Sod the money and get your safety issues fixed first

[Susan17]

@Shakil6 

Yawn. Go away, silly little boy - you're boring us. 

[Helen3]

Reported this idiot @Susan17 

[Quincy]

He's gone now. (forever) @Helen3. 

Thanks for reporting this. 

Quincy