In september 2024 bracht de BBC het nieuws naar buiten dat Mohamed Al-Fayed, de in 2023 overleden miljonair en oud-eigenaar van het beroemde warenhuis Harrods, is beschuldigd van het verkrachten van vijf vrouwen en het seksueel misbruiken van minstens vijftien anderen toen ze in het luxe warenhuis werkten.
Minstens net zo schokkend als het misbruik dat Al-Fayed maakte van zijn positie, was het feit dat veel leidinggevenden binnen Harrods op de hoogte waren, maar niet ingrepen en de misstanden zelfs hebben verdoezeld.
In deze zesdelige serie van de BBC worden naast slachtoffers onder meer oud- personeelsleden en beveiligers van Harrods geïnterviewd. Sinds het verschijnen van deze podcast in september zijn er nog ongeveer honderd vrouwen naar buiten getreden met beschuldigingen van aanranding door Al-Fayed.
Global investigations from the BBC. Uncovering gripping stories from around the world and telling them episode by episode. Delve into a World of Secrets.
Latest season:
Somewhere in America, a twelve year old girl is being abused in her own home – photographs of it are being shared to a vast community of child abusers on the ‘dark web’ — an encrypted corner of the internet where users are untraceable. But, hidden amongst them, are two men whose job it is to try and find her: US Special Agents Greg Squire and Pete Manning. For over seven years, BBC Eye journalist Sam Piranty has been granted rare access to follow their work – observing the extraordinary lengths they will go to hunt down offenders and rescue children. Every detail matters, and every decision has consequences. They will not look away. The race is on.
Also, previously on World of Secrets:
The Child Cancer Scam: Millions of dollars are donated to help kids with cancer but families never see the money.
Death in Dubai: A woman falls from a tower block and her name starts trending. But behind the online rumours lies an even darker reality.
And the Abercrombie Guys: Investigating sexual exploitation claims against the former CEO of fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch.
Pete and Greg have learnt about a paedophile calling himself “Twinkle”, who runs a website dedicated to sharing images of very young children.
At first, they have no idea who he is or where he could be, but slowly Twinkle gives himself away. Working with investigators in Brazil and Portugal the agents discover that Twinkle is a young man living in rural Portugal. Greg flies out to assist with the arrest and discovers some very disturbing scenes.
This episode talks about child sexual abuse from the very start, and includes some upsetting scenes.
For further information on the issues raised in the programme, contact support organisations in your own country. For a list of organisations in the UK that can provide support go to bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Reporter and Presenter: Sam Piranty
Writer and Producer: Annabel Deas
Script advice: Matt Willis
Sound design: Neil Churchill
Composer: Rob Lewis
Executive Producer: Rebecca Henschke
Commissioning Senior Producer: Sarah Green
Commissioning Editor: Jon Manel
The Darkest Web is a BBC Eye production for the BBC World Service.
