For the first time in its history, Uber has revealed a statement about the rape and sexual assault committed by their drivers while they were out working. It turns out that between 2017 and 2018, 5961 counts have been recorded. This data has been divided up into five categories which range from inappropriate touching (almost 50% of the incidents) up to and including rape. Uber hasn’t released an exact number of sexual harassment counts.
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To go into more detail, the platform has records of 3045 counts of abuse in 2018 alone: 235 counts of rape, 280 counts of attempted rape and more than 2500 counts of inappropriate advances (forced kissing, groping…) In most cases, the victims were female (up to 89% in counts of rape) and passengers in the taxis.
These figures are terrifying, especially since Uber has been putting quite a lot of stress on how seriously they take passenger safety in their recent press releases. And judging by the staggering number of taxi journeys that took place during this time, more than 1.3 billion to be more precise, there should actually be more pressure put on Uber’s lax and weak attitude, as media sources believe.
‘These incidents were reported in 0.00002% of journeys. Although rare, these reports all represent an individual who has had a very painful experience. Even one single report would be one too many,’ said Uber.
#UberIsOver, call to boycott Uber
This hardly gracious report came just weeks after the wave of reports on social media from countries all around Europe by women who had suffered sexual assault at the hands of their Uber drivers. Under the hashtag #UberCestOver (Uber Is Done), dozens and dozens of people using this platform have delivered some quite shocking testimonies of inappropriate touching, rape and even kidnappings…
What’s even worse, the stories are rather similar: same pattern, same car, the same man. For several years, one particular driver had abused several young women and every time, Uber has been informed but hadn’t taken any action. Anaïs, one of the victims, explained ‘It’s been three years since it happened, and I haven’t taken an Uber since.’
‘I went home with my panties down…’
After a night out, Anaïs ordered an Uber so she could get home safely. On her way home, her driver raped her.
Today, and alongside other victims, they are taking a stand with #UberCestOver or #UberIsOver.
