Originally Posted by gnomie

First of all, I am very sorry that the OP had this experience.

Second, after reading many of the responses, I shared this thread with members of my office and it is quite eye opening the difference between male and female with regard to their thoughts of the OP and the responses received so far. Female colleagues were much more sympathetic to the OP and could relate to the situation while some of our male colleagues could not understand what the fuss was all about.

Almost all of the females in my office agree that the OP appears to be young, inexperienced with regard to travel, and most of all, she is scared and she searched out forums to seek assistance and she found FT. It is quite easy to claim what one would do if they were in a similar circumstance, it is quite different when it is actually happening and you don't have time to second guess your judgment and decisions. I know this from my own personal experience, so ease off on the OP and what she did or did not do.

First of all, do not post any more on social media. Almost all of the males in my office were suspicious because the OP did not include the location or brand name of the hotel, while the females totally understand the reasoning. She was violated and the last thing she wants is for the "unwanted guest" following and cyberstalking her.

Secondly, while it is still fresh in your memory, sit down and write down EVERYTHING that happened, including the time and name of any individual you spoke to. Nothing is too minor, what was the individual wearing, type of luggage, etc. Who was the employee(s) that laughed at you. As time goes on, you may forget important details so do this immediately. Try to remember conversations as clearly as possible.

Next, call the police in the city where the hotel is located and ask to speak to a detective in the sex crimes division. Tell them what happened, what your fear is and that you reported the incident to hotel management and they did not call the police. The reason you should mention this, when questioned by the police, hotel management may claim you refused to allow them to call the police (this happens more often than you think, hotels hate to get police involved) and the police may ask management if they documented the complaint. The police will have an easier time getting the contact information of the individual from the hotel. Follow-up with the detective assigned to the case.

It is very easy for one to say "get a lawyer" - however, she is from a different country and may not have any idea of how our legal system works and may not have the funds to retain a lawyer. If the OP was traveling for work, I would seek out the assistance either from a supervisor or HR. If the employer does a lot of business with this one chain, they may have the necessary contacts to escalate the situation. For the manager to say that he contacted the individual by email and is waiting for a response is inexcusable - if they need to, they know how to contact him. Since this happened while traveling for work, the employer may agree to pick up legal fees and assist in obtaining counsel.

If the employer is not willing to get involved and the OP needs to resolve this on her own, I would ask contacts if they could either recommend a lawyer or know of someone who could help her obtain one. I do not recommend getting a lawyer based on advertising or yelp reviews. If for whatever reason you cannot obtain a lawyer on your own, there are a number of organizations that provide free legal advise for victims of sexual violation. I would first look at the city where the hotel is located, then the State and then nationally.

The fact that the individual continued filming and narrating means he knew what he was doing. Any decent person who has a camera in their hand to video their entrance to the room would have immediately stopped when confronted with the situation, this individual did not. The OP should stop trying to locate the video, if it indeed has been posted. The police are more knowledgeable and will know where to look.

And finally, this is not meant to shame the OP, but is meant as general advise for females who travel either alone, or with friends/colleagues. She should either take a class if offered by her employer or watch some youtube videos regarding safety tips for females, whether at home or traveling. Whenever I am in a hotel room, the deadbolt is locked.

I wish the OP good luck - this is not an easy time for her and I hope this gets resolved in her favor.