"I was in disbelief. Am I seriously being asked to recall the humiliating details of my own sexual assault? Was this global company pushing me to relive my trauma on their forum for everyone to see and comment, or worse of all for the perpetrator who is still out there, to respond to me, troll me?," K told the Guardian.
TripAdvisor informed K its policy wasn't to remove a business from its listings even if a staff member was being investigated for sexual assault or rape.
The company then shared five links of reviews detailing sexual assault and rape, allegedly committed by staff at different hotels as a way she could formulate her review.
But when K eventually submitted a review, it was not published because it wasn't written in a first-person style.
She explained she didn't want to write the review in first-person to avoid being contacted by online trolls and her alleged attacker.
In another review lodged on TripAdvisor, an 18-year-old woman claims she had her drink spiked and was raped while staying at a resort in Jamaica.
She explained the hotel had even launched a legal complaint against her to dispute the accusation.
Another woman, aged 44, said her review detailing a sexual assault by a security guard in the Dominican Republic was buried by more than 2600 other reviews and was ignored.
The woman told the Guardian TripAdvisor needed a different review system, especially for these types of incidents.
"They definitely should have a different kind of review system, for these types of incidences so they're not buried in with everyone's reviews about you know, the quality of the towels or the sheets.
"Especially if it's a safety issue, particularly for women."
In 2017 TripAdvisor attempted to deal with complaints of sexual assaults by saying it was adding a warning tag to hotels where "health, discrimination and safety issues" had been reported.
However, TripAdvisor came under fire the same year for deleting a review describing a rape incident in a hotel in Mexico.
The company has since told the Guardian it was "terrible" that some users "endure serious issues such as assault or rape, and we hope our platform can be used by them to help warn and protect others.
It is important that reviewers follow our publishing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of our reviews, and when these reviews are not readily available and news reports exist that detail recent and pervasive health and safety matters, TripAdvisor's notification process helps alert travellers about potential issues at a location."
If you're in danger NOW:
• Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours of friends to ring for you.
• Run outside and head for where there are other people.
• Scream for help so that your neighbours can hear you.
• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault.
Where to go for help or more information:
• NZ Police
• Help Auckland 24/7 helpline 09 623 1700
• Rape Prevention Education
• Wellington Help 24/7 crisisline 04 801 6655, push 0
• Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse
• Women's Refuge: Free national crisis line operates 24/7 - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 www.womensrefuge.org.nz
• Shine, free national helpline 9am- 11pm every day - 0508 744 633 www.2shine.org.nz
• Shakti: Providing specialist cultural services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and their children. Crisis line 24/7 0800 742 584
• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women, focusing this year on sexual violence and the issue of consent. www.whiteribbon.org.nz
