Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual harassment which some readers may find distressing.
A journalist who went undercover in Magaluf to investigate sexual harassment has revealed the secret signals she had in place to keep her safe.
Ellie Flynn created a new documentary with Channel 4 titled Magaluf Undercover: Predators and Parties in which she pretended to be drunk to show the predatory nature of many men who go to the party holiday destination.
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Flynn’s efforts went viral following a horrifying clip in which a group of men, after commenting that she is ‘wasted’, say ‘let’s go for it’.
This came after one of them sat on a sun lounger with her and said this was his ‘last chance’ and asked if she wanted to ‘kiss for a little bit’.
Flynn on the viral clip of a group of predatory men
In an exclusive interview with Flynn, we spoke about that shocking moment, and the secret signals she had in place to keep her safe.
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When asked about the moment she realised she was surrounded by three men, the clip of which has gone viral, she said: “It just really, really startled me, because I couldn't see where the first two had gone.
“I didn't know if they were behind me. I didn't know if they were all surrounding me. It's really, really dark. You can't really see anything on that beach.
“There's no lights in that area. All of a sudden it just felt like I was outnumbered.”
Signals she used to keep safe
In the clip she uses one of the secret signals to indicate to security watching nearby that she wanted the interaction to be over, but you might not notice what it is she does.
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In our interview, when asked about how she kept safe, she said: “Before we went, we had loads of conversations… so we were all really, really clear on what our red lines were.
“If it looked like anyone was sort of touching me, and I wasn't able to kind of get up, if I was sort of pinned down at any point or anything like that, you know, to quite extremes, then obviously security would have intervened straight away.
“Otherwise, I had signals, like I would stand up, I would sit up, I would say something, and that would be the security's cue to intervene.
“But obviously, for our journalistic purposes, we have to be sure what people's intents are and we have to be sure what is happening in this situation. With that last day, the signal was just for me to stand up.
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“If I stood up at all, I had a word that I could say if I wasn't able to stand up, and that was what I did as soon as soon as I couldn't see where the other two men were, and I didn't know how many of them were around me, I just stood up straight away.”
Ellie also revealed that the team would also communicate via WhatsApp with her able to see it on her phone despite acting ‘drunk’.
Magaluf Undercover: Predators and Parties is available to watch on YouTube now here.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
Michael Slavin