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Stamford Marriott Claims Woman was Negligent in Her Own Rape
The recent article in the Stamford Advocate blaming a victim for her own rape is incredulous! The Stamford Marriott is being sued by a woman raped at gunpoint in its parking garage is claiming she was careless, negligent and "failed to exercise due care for her own safety and the safety of her children and proper use of her senses and facilities," according to court documents. Really? Based on the reports "On Oct. 10, 2006, Fricker stuck a handgun in the back of the then 40-year-old woman and forced her and her children, then 3 and 5, into their minivan as they left the hotel, according to court documents. She let him go through her wallet and told him he could take it, but Fricker demanded she take off her clothes. Fricker sexually assaulted the woman for several minutes, pointing the gun at her and her children and threatening to sexually assault one of her children. When another car pulled up, the woman screamed, and Fricker fled. Police arrested Fricker near White Plains, N.Y., three days later, and he immediately confessed, police have said." To read the rest of the article, please click here. Where in this scenario was this woman careless and negligent? The reality is that the hotel's security did not notice this individual and did a poor job of maintaining safety of the parking garage via patrol or surveillance. Any good Risk Manager worth their salt would have settled this matter and not pushed it into the courts. A public facility has responsibility for the safety of its invitees. Further, the Marriott's claim that "the acts were unforeseen and beyond their control," is rubbish. Loss Control statistics clearly point out the dangers to females of rape in parking structures & staircases in public buildings. The fact that most hotel chains do not voluntarily share their crime statistics indicates that they are aware of the problems. How they choose to mitigate those problems vs. cost expenditures becomes the issue. Feel free to share your concerns with Marriott at https://www.marriott.com/suggest/suggest.mi In the interim Ladies, be careful & be aware! |
