New York City’s hotels have agreed to arm housekeepers with personal panic buttons for use in emergencies, including the event of unwelcome advances from guests. The decision likely results from an increased concern for worker safety stirred up by the alleged sexual assault of a housekeeper by former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn last May. –ARK

The Guardian:

After Strauss-Kahn’s arrest, the Sofitel and the Pierre, another high-end hotel in Manhattan, both decided to give panic buttons, which can be used to summon help when they feel in danger, to maids. Now housekeepers at all of the biggest hotels in the city will be equipped with the devices.

Neither union officials nor representatives of the hotel owners would say that the provision was a result of the Strauss-Kahn episode[.]

Read more

Your support is crucial…

With an uncertain future and a new administration casting doubt on press freedoms, the danger is clear: The truth is at risk.

Now is the time to give. Your tax-deductible support allows us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes what’s really happening — without compromise.

Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and unearth untold stories.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG