A BBC documentary investigating accusations against former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed has revealed thirty years of sexual abuse against the department store’s employees.
The documentary highlighted the stories of twenty women assaulted by Al-Fayed, including five cases of rape. Since airing, a further 200 victims have come forward.
The distressing accounts of these women demonstrate not only the horrific violence that pervades capitalist society, but also the inability of the police and courts to tackle these injustices, with so-called ‘law enforcers’ dragging their feet for decades.
From Jeffrey Epstein, to Harvey Weinstein, to Jimmy Savile: it is increasingly clear that capitalism allows the rich and powerful to get away with the most heinous crimes unimpeded.
Web of abuse
The stories now coming to light make it clear that Al-Fayed did not simply happen to find himself in hundreds of situations where it was possible to assault women. He actively used his wealth and power to ensure this, creating a web of abuse to entrap his victims.
Al-Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, formulated a systematic method of sourcing women and girls for his office. The meticulous extent of this planning was only possible thanks to the ample resources at his disposal.
A whole team of staff existed around the Harrods boss to enable him to commit these atrocities. This included team members responsible for luring young girls in with the promise of career opportunities, introducing them to Al Fayed, and flashing money at them as incentive.
This was only the start. The victims, some as young as 16, would be put through invasive medical examinations. Details of their sexual health were passed onto Harrods and Al-Fayed himself. One woman even detailed how the billionaire personally approached her, publicly shouting about the results of her evaluation.
On top of buying off doctors, victims, and witnesses, Al-Fayed’s fortune also allowed him to sue journalists for libel, thereby buying the media’s silence too.
Rotten ruling class
For years, rumours of Al-Fayed’s abusive behaviour circulated among Harrods’ employees. One staff member described how the luxury store’s former owner enjoyed using his power to belittle and control those around him. Another noted how he surrounded himself with an entourage of young women.
Every effort had been made by the company and the capitalist media to present the Egyptian billionaire as a singular, inexplicably monstrous man, who by unfortunate coincidence ended up in an undeserved position of power.
Current Harrods boss Michael Ward, for example, has denied any knowledge of this abuse. These were the actions of an “individual, intent on abusing his power”, he has stated.
The reality is that Al-Fayed used his wealth and connections to create a toxic culture of exploitation and harassment at Harrods – just as Weinstein did in Hollywood, or likewise Epstein with his elite network of sex trafficking.
Simply put, under capitalism, the scum consistently rises to the top. It is clear that this is not a case of one ‘bad apple’, but a ruling class that is rotten to the core.
Establishment silence
The cover up of these acts was not limited to Harrods, who continue to pay off victims even today, but extends to the inaction of the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), formerly headed by ‘Sir’ Keir Starmer.
The Metropolitan Police have admitted that they investigated 19 accusations against Al-Fayed, including three cases of rape, but made no charges.
On five occasions, the CPS was approached by the Met. Starmer has boasted that – while head of the CPS – he maintained a close focus on combating violence against women. His inaction in relation to both Savile and Al-Fayed paints a very different picture.
Al-Fayed clearly used his money and power to shield himself. But he was aided in his efforts by the institutions of the capitalist state. Those who claim to protect us, in reality, stood aside, kept their mouths shut, and allowed these horrors to continue unimpeded.
Decrepit system
The women and girls involved in this serial abuse have described the impact that this has had on them to this day.
One woman explained that even “nine years after my attack, I was contacted and reminded not to speak, and that I would be sued and people knew where I worked”. Her experiences were “terrifying”, she added.
Though the settlements offered by Harrods now no longer contain non-disclosure agreements, the idea that these women can be financially compensated for their suffering is farcical.
Only a thorough-going investigation of these crimes could possibly provide justice. But this is not something that the British establishment and its henchmen can be trusted to carry out, as can be seen from the endless impotent inquiries – from Grenfell and Hillsborough – that have taken place in recent years.
These injustices – whether they be at Harrods or in Hollywood – are the product of a decrepit, decaying system that allows the rich and powerful to do as they please; to prey on the vulnerable with impunity, protected by their friends in high places and by the various arms of the capitalist state.
Achieving real justice for these women means dismantling this rotten system, which breeds violence and misogyny, and placing power in the hands of the working class.
Only then can we hold the degenerate capitalists accountable for their crimes, and put an end to these systematic abuses once and for all.
