Brave woman shares experience of Glasgow homeless hotel
A woman she befriended told her she was raped and she told of others having bruising and black eyes.
(Image: newsquest)
To protect her identity, we are not identifying the woman, who we will call Mary, or the hotel.
Mary said: "I was in the hotel and then was told to leave after I intervened and phoned an ambulance when a man was choking.
'He was choking on his vomit on the stairs,' she said.
She said staff took him away and she said soon after, she was accused of 'taking drugs and having parties in her room' and told to leave.
Mary said: 'I don't take drugs and I didn't have people in the room.
'I was kicked out for helping to save a life.'
She said: 'I spent almost a week sleeping rough, in closes, before I managed to get into a better place.
Mary said: 'Women are not safe in these places. I saw women being punched. I saw them with bruises and black eyes.
'It was happening inside.'
Her own experience, she said, was "frightening".
She said: 'I was attacked three times and I had my phone stolen.'
Mary added: 'I had a man on the same floor as me making sexual remarks towards me. Then he was banging on my door.
"When I complained, the hotel refused to move me or him.'
She told how there were some people who looked out for each other and that was the only way she stayed safe.
But for one woman she was friends with, that was not enough.
Mary said: 'She told me she had been unconscious and was sure she had been raped as she was bruised and sore. I told her to report it to the police but she was too frightened.'
She said she is certain this has happened to other women.
Mary told of her relief at finally securing a room in a safer place.
She broke down in tears as she described a simple act that most people take for granted.
Mary said: 'I have a clean room with en-suite and the use of a small kitchen. The first night there, I slept like a baby.
'I was able to go to the shops and buy some pasta and sauce and cook my own hot meal for the first time in months.'
In the hotel, she said, she was offered a donut for breakfast.
She added: 'I didn't know the places to get free food and was spending all the money I got on expensive ready-made or takeaway food.'
The Glasgow Times has been running the End the Homeless Hotel Shame campaign, calling for improved conditions for people who find themselves at risk of rough sleeping.
The number of women housed in the hotels has increased in the last year to more than 300 as the number of homeless people goes up.
Glasgow City Council declared a housing emergency in December 2023 and is struggling to cope with rapidly rising demand for services.
There have been calls to create women-only emergency accommodation in the city to offer better protection.
The council policy is to phase out the use of hotels but in the face of the demand has instead had to increase its use, spending tens of millions of pounds a year on hotel and B&Bs.
There is no policy of separating men and women in the hotels used for homeless people.
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: 'The council has rejected the idea of creating single sex bed and breakfast accommodation due to the potential for these establishments being targeted by predatory males.
'In relation to the use of bed and breakfast type accommodation for single women, we have worked with wider partners and the owners of these properties to put in place safeguarding policies that reflect the risks in relation to Violence Against Women and Girls.
'We also work with Police Scotland and the owners of bed and breakfast type accommodation to respond robustly to any risks to women from predatory behaviour.
"We are not aware of any recent sexual violent attacks on female service users residing in bed and breakfast/hotel accommodation."
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