By Ken Storey
Many people think of Disney as one of the 'happiest places on earth,' but is Walt Disney World one of the best for rapists as well? A new article posted on xoJane, a third-wave feminist online magazine, tells of how one rapist may have gotten away with it at Disney and questions the handling of college students that are in Disney's college intern program, one of the largest in the world. The article is a confession from Dana Wierzbicki, a college graduate from Chicago, who came to Florida for a dream internship. Just three weeks into her stay here in Orlando, she claims she was raped by a college program international student from France after a night of partying together.
The rape though, sadly, isn't the worst part of the story. The truly shocking part comes later when she recounts what happened when she reported the incident. Meeting with a one of the counselors in Disney’s Employee Assistance Program, Wierzbicki is shocked by what she is told.
"The first thing she said to me was “Well, now you know not to be hanging around boys in the middle of the night. You know what they want...She asked where he was from and I told her, “France.” She remarked that “cultural differences” were probably part of the problem, telling me that the French have a “different view of love” than we Americans do."
The 'assistance' gets even stranger when the counselor advises her to "show up at the next party looking hot and make him jealous."After the incident with the Employee Assistance Program, Wierzbicki realizes she needs to report this rape but finds the process to do so seems even more confusing than the excuses made in the counseling session. Weirzbicki recounts, "It was impossible to find out where to report a sexual assault within the company. There was no information about how to report a sexual assault in the college program, nor any resources for who to contact."
Weirzbicki finally found someone in Employee Relations to take down her complaint, but again the Disney employee seemed to point the blame not at the rapist but at Weirzbicki herself. After reporting the incident Weirzbicki leaves the college program and heads home hoping that justice will take its course. A week after she arrives home a letter comes in the mail informing her that her complaint had been noted. After contacting Disney Weirzbicki, is denied any information on how they handled the case. Immediately, Weirzbicki contacted a former co-worker who informed her that the college male who had raped her was still working within the parks.
