Is Air BnB safe for women?

[DJLippy]

It looks like Air BnB inclusion policy is not safe for women. It lists 'gender identity' as a protected characteristic but not sex.

If a guest asks for single sex accommodation then by the looks of this the host can self-ID as female - making their policy null and void.

www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1405/airbnb-s-nondiscrimination-policy--our-commitment-to-inclusion-and-respect

There have been past instances where female guests have been sexually assaulted - even murdered by their hosts. Considering the intimate nature of such a service Air BnB really don't seem to understand or care about women's safety.

fortune.com/2017/10/30/airbnb-murder-melbourne/

www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/travel/airbnb-lawsuit-host-sexual-assault.html

www.airbnbhell.com/i-was-gang-raped-in-budapest-and-airbnb-ignored-me-then-insulted-me/

That sounds terrible Yourvagesty. Thank goodness you had someone come to the rescue.

I've used Airbnb several times and loved everywhere I've stayed but they all have an established B&B business, just advertise on Airbnb for extra bookings. One was a lovely last minute holiday cottage. I'd be very cautious staying alone, just a room. DD and her uni friends have used it a lot for trips abroad, always booking entire flat and a group staying. I like being able to scroll through lots of places, check price and availability all on same site instead of working through individual B&B's with different websites and having to email re availability etc.

I'd never use Uber though. Thank goodness they are getting challenged. Also very concerned about the gig economy generally. I was glad to see Pimlico Plumbers lost their case in the high court. Hopefully the tide is turning and employees can expect some rights.

Air bnb is causing problems in cities like Edinburgh. I hope they crack down on it.

Yes it's causing problems in my own city, regular B&B's and hotels losing business plus loss of regular rental properties. The B&B's complain (quite rightly) that they have to go through lots of checks including fire safety and food hygiene. Air B&B bypass all that. Makes me sound a bit hypocritical as a satisfied customer but I shall be reconsidering, especially re safety and advice to student DD.

No it was deleted for including identifying info about someone.

It was Juzzal, but a more specific thread regarding a particular person's experience. It's been deleted due to identifying information in some posts. Interesting to read a more general thread of wider experiences though.

If you feel unsafe renting from a stranger (and possibly sharing with them), I would just go with a traditional hotel.

I wouldn’t use Air bnb or Uber but I’m very much in the minority amongst my age group (early 30s).

There's an issue about their inclusion policy. It was brought to our attention by a certain Twitter post but I don't think this is an 'outing' thread. That thread was started as a warning - to draw attention to an illegal policy. I was hoping to galvanise some activity. We should contact the company and tell them they are breaching UK law.

We are currently letting out our summer cottage through an agency. They take 40% and all we get for that is that they advertise and arrange the bookings, but if something gets broken or the guests don't pay for the electricity we get no help at all, so we are considering switching to Airbnb and let electricity be included. That way we can lower our prices but still get more income in ourselves. However, I would never rent a room in a strangers house. The problem with the host not leaving I have also heard about from hotels, but I still think hotels are safer than a room in a private house.

I've had positive experiences with Air BnB but have rented apartments not just a room in a house and Airbnb was often one of several places they advertised the house/ apartment. If just wanting a room I'd go for a guest house and usually use tripadvisor.
It should be illegal to say an owner is female if they aren't.

It should be illegal to say an owner is female if they aren't.

Agree.

I'm not disagreeing that Air BnB is probably risky for lone women, but the victims in.two of the three examples you give were men.

I would never use Airbnb because there's just too many ways for women to get seriously harmed by staying with strangers. I'd rather just pay the price of a hotel room and so forth.

I feel this way about Uber, being just about old enough to remember when getting in a car with a stranger off t'interwebs was considered A Very Foolish Thing To Do.

See also: Deliveroo etc. I'm all for people being entrepreneurial, but I feel the whole 'gig' economy, and enabling what are effectively unregulated and unchecked service providers, is both f*cking stupid AND ethically hugely problematic (don't get me started on how Deliveroo 'agents' are treated), for the sake of saving a few quid.

I wonder who was the perpetrator?