Six Australian women have accused former Harrods boss, Mohammed Al Fayed, of sexual assault in what's been described as the worst case of corporate sexual abuse the world has ever seen. More than 400 people have now come forward with allegations against the late billionaire.
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00:00Well, the sheer scale of abuse by former Harrods owner Mohammed Al-Fayed continues to grow,
00:09with six Australian women now coming forward to make sexual assault allegations against
00:14the billionaire. Lawyers acting for survivors say they have now been contacted by more than
00:18400 people who've been impacted by the abuse. The billionaire businessman who died last
00:25year at the age of 94 is accused of multiple counts of rape, attempted rape and sexual
00:31assault by women who worked for him at Harrods. Many felt they weren't able to report what
00:35happened until recently. But his alleged victims weren't just from the London department store,
00:40which Al-Fayed owned between 1985 and 2010. They were also from the Fulham football club,
00:47which Al-Fayed was the owner of for 16 years and various other places. Lawyers for Al-Fayed's
00:53victims today say they have now begun their crusade for justice by officially launching
00:57legal proceedings against Harrods, including on behalf of six Australians.
01:03That, in our opinion, is an industrial scale abuse. Abuse that could have only been perpetrated
01:11with a system that enabled the abuse to happen. And that is what is so key to this case and why
01:19this case, as I've said before, in many ways is the worst case of corporate sexual abuse of women
01:28that the world has ever known. Harrods new owners said earlier this month they're in talks with
01:34around 250 people who are seeking compensation for alleged abuse. Lawyers have praised the courage
01:40of the hundreds of victims who have come forward and say they have been let down by significant
01:45parts of society.