TripAdvisor users accuse travel website of deleting warnings of rape and assault

Company apologises to one woman whose post about her rape seven years ago was repeatedly deleted

First hand accounts of rape and sexual assault were deleted by the website due to a violation of 'guidlines' (Bloomberg)

The travel review website TripAdvisor has apologised to one of its users after it deleted her post about being sexually assaulted on holiday.

In a response to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — which accuses the company of deleting first-hand accounts of rape and sexual assault — TripAdvisor apologised for repeatedly taking down her post, adding: “We are horrified that this victim experienced this assault on her vacation in Mexico, and other travellers should be aware of this incident.”

Kristie Love, 35, was raped seven years ago on holiday in Mexico. After legal prosecution fell through she decided to post on the website in order to warn other travellers.

“The only thing I could do was post to TripAdvisor. So I posted the story and it obviously got a lot of response. Every day it would be deleted and the next day I would go and immediately upload the post again and it would be removed again,” she said.

Ms Love is one of many users who have had their experiences of sexual assault removed as the content were deemed inappropriate for the family friendly site, the Journal Sentinel reports.

The mother of two says she was raped by a security guard in 2010 while on holiday in Iberostar resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico. When she tried to report the incident to management she says they refused to call the police, instead encouraging her to go to the hospital.

After flying home she says Iberostar refused to cooperate with an investigation. They said they had no report of anything that happened to her and threatened to sue.

Ms Love said comments warned her that her post would be deleted and after daily posts TripAdvisor eventually blocked her IP address.

Within a year of Ms Love’s rape, another woman, 19, was reportedly raped at the same resort by a security guard while on vacation with her family.

In 2015, Jamie Valeri, 35, told the newspaper l how she was sexually assaulted at the same resort after both her and her husband blacked out in the middle of the day after two drinks.

The mother of six from Wisconsin also tried to warn other travellers on TripAdvisor but like Ms Love, she says her posts were removed.

“I’d get a generic email saying it 'didn’t meet the requirements',” she said. After several unsuccessful attempts despite rewording her review Ms Valeri says she gave up.

She added that if she had seen a post like Ms Love tried to post "maybe we wouldn't’t have gone or maybe that wouldn't’t have happened to me".

“I had no options. I didn't’t know the risk existed,” she explained.

After multiple inquiries by the Journal Sentinel TripAdvisor has now agreed to republish Ms Loves post, seven years on.

The company told Ms Love: “If this post had been published at this time they would not have deleted it which is why they are willing to repost it.”

However, according to the newspaper, in the same month the website republished Ms Love’s post, a man from Boston’s post warning travellers about how he was drugged in the same area of Mexico was not published.

TripAdvisor wrote to him in an email suggesting his post violated the company’s “hearsay” guidelines.

A TripAdvisor spokesperson said: "Like any other content business, we work to adhere to publishing guidelines that are in place to ensure the accuracy and integrity of those reviews. Since 2010, when the forum post was removed, our policies and processes have evolved to better provide information like this to other travellers.

"In fact, a simple internet search will show numerous reviews from travellers over the last several years who wrote about their first hand experiences that include matters of robbery or theft, assault and rape.”

The firm added that it will be creating a “badge” notification to alert customers of health and safety or discrimination issues.