An Australian hotel has been accused of publicly shaming a female guest in a bizarre Facebook post about 'shark week'.
On Friday (local time) the Quest Palmerston in Darwin posted a series of photos of bloodied white towels and sheets to its official Facebook page.
"What an interesting week... it must be Shark Week," the post read, along with a shark emoji. It concluded with a series of hashtags including #blood and #disgusting.
'Shark week' is a euphemism for menstruation, named thus because of sharks' ability to smell blood in the water from a long distance away.
Since then, the hotel's Facebook page has been flooded with negative reviews from people who say Quest set out to embarrass a woman who had her period while staying there.
"Public shaming of female guests for having a period is unacceptable," one person wrote.
"I dread to think what hideous management culture makes it even possible. Public apology is not enough - systemic change is required. Until then probably not a place for women to stay."
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Another called the original post "horrible".
"Imagine shaming someone for getting their period ON SOCIAL MEDIA!! This is extremely disrespectful and unprofessional. Behaviour like that is DISGUSTING."
One woman called the staff member responsible "immature and disrespectful".
"Whoever is in their social media team must be a child - imagine making fun of a poor women for accidentally getting blood on the bed sheets."
On Saturday (local time) the hotel posted an apology to its Facebook page, saying the now-deleted post was "not in line with our standards or the Quest Brand".
"We have addressed the post with staff responsible."
Many commenters suggested the hotel donate to a women's charity, particularly one that addresses period poverty.
Newshub.
