Diane Diallo is a chambermaid from Guinea and a former employee of the Park Hyatt Hotel in Paris. Last year, she claims, she was sexually assaulted in a hotel room by someone within the circle of the Qatari royal family.
"I was on the third floor, in the evening. It was between seven and eight. As I went into the room to clean it, he grabbed me and assaulted me," she told the BBC.
"After the incident I fled the room and hid in the store cupboard where the head of security found me. They asked me to identify the person from closed circuit television - the cameras were covering the corridors and the lift.
"The man had left almost immediately after the attack with his family."
Her story has remarkable similarities to the alleged assault for which Dominique Strauss-Khan was arrested last month. The difference is in the attitude of the French authorities.
"The French police didn't want to do anything," said Ms Diallo, 28.
"And they let me know very quickly they wanted me to drop it. I was shocked, in tears. I told them it wasn't right, that because a person is rich and important, he can treat people as he likes.
"The police replied, 'Well that's just the way it is!'" The man in question left the country and was never interviewed.
But the European Association Against Violence Against Women, a group representing Ms Diallo, say they have now been informed by the prosecutor's office that the investigation has been re-opened, although the authorities have yet to inform Ms Diallo.
Marilyn Baldeck, spokeswoman for the group, said there has been a notable increase in the number of reported abuse and harassment cases in recent months, from women who until now were nervous of coming forward.
"There has been a real impact which I think is down to the media coverage of the the DSK affair," she said.
Read more on this story from the BBC.