Flight Attendant's Scary Video Shows Why Women Aren't Even Safe Behind Locked Hotel Doors
It can be incredibly scary to travel alone as a woman.
@mimi.strickland / TikTok A flight attendant's video of a frightening experience while staying at a hotel alone has left many women wondering if they are safe anywhere.
In a TikTok video, Mimi Strickland revealed that she had been involved in an alarming incident while staying in a hotel by herself that had her questioning whether or not she was truly safe behind a locked door.
Strickland explained that someone had tried to break into her hotel room despite the door being locked.
Across multiple videos Strickland posted to her account, she recalled the terrifying incident of being in her hotel room alone when she suddenly heard someone trying to break into the room.
In the initial clip Strickland took of the attempted break-in, she caught a strange man standing outside the hotel door using a wire hanger and a shoestring to try and open the door to get inside. It all started after Strickland had heard a faint knock at her door.
"As I was walking toward the door, I saw a wire hanger and then a shoestring connected to it, and it was already on the door handle. Before I could process everything, all I saw was my deadbolt unlock and my door open. I immediately ran toward the door and shut the door," she recalled in the first part of her story.
As soon as the man trying to break into her room noticed she was recording him, he left, though Strickland knew that he had been caught on not only her camera but the security camera above the door to her hotel room. She instantly called the front desk to report the incident as well as requesting a new room to stay in for the night since she didn't feel safe anymore.
Strickland insisted that the man who had been trying to break in wasn't an employee after the woman at the front desk of the hotel tried to explain that he was a maintenance worker who had been trying to unlock the door for a guest who had been locked out but had gone to the wrong room.
Strickland, sticking to precautions, eventually called the police, though the hotel management claimed that they would handle the incident on their own.
She eventually managed to get a new room to sleep in for the night, but at that point, Strickland didn't feel safe staying anywhere in the hotel and ended up leaving for the airport early for a flight that she would be working on that morning.
Thankfully, nothing happened to Strickland and she was able to leave the hotel safely and unharmed, however, her experience proves that even behind locked hotel room doors, women are rarely ever safe.
Many women have reported feeling unsafe while traveling by themselves.
According to data acquired by Hotel Management International, one in four women has suffered a negative incident when traveling on business and 51% of women said that they have, at some point, felt vulnerable when staying in a hotel.
In 2022, another flight attendant shared the 'hotel safety routine' she follows on every trip to help keep her safe, which includes a safety lock that prevents the door from opening even when unlocked.
The slew of women who often admit to feeling unsafe while out in public and traveling alone can be attributed to the high risk of experiencing gender-based violence. Harassment, assault, and other forms of violence against women are persistent issues, and this knowledge contributes to women's concerns about their safety in public spaces.
Ultimately, whether or not the man trying to break into Strickland's hotel room really was a maintenance worker or not, it still highlights that creating a safe environment for guests in hotels is a shared responsibility between the management and staff.
Women also have to take precautions on their own to ensure that they are protecting themselves against gender-based violence, though it's definitely a shame that women have to be the ones to take these measures in the first place.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.