Uber: A Lesson in Sexual Assault Reporting
As the world’s premier ride sharing service, Uber has the responsibility of providing 15 million rides per day to customers across the globe. With this responsibility comes issues of sexual assault and sexual harassment. The company understands it is a stakeholder in helping victims so they’ve taken the initiative to release a report detailing the complaints the company received.
The ride hailing app’s report shared the statistics of survivors.
235 reports of rape occuring during a ride in 2018
280 reports of attempted rape in 2018
1,560 reports of groping in 2018
376 reports of unwanted kissing to the breast, buttocks, and the mouth in 2018
594 reports of unwanted kissing to a different body part in 2018
The company has come under scrutiny in recent years for the service’s resources and responsibilities for adressing sexual assault. With this in mind, Uber is working towards bettering their resources with sexual assault by implementing tools that help survivors, such as audio recording so riders or drivers can record the audio of their ride. Currently, the company is piloting dashboard cameras in several major cities.
While 99.9% of rides go on without incident, the company is working toward a sexual assault rate of zero people. Uber understands the gravity of an individual case, as the chief legal officer Tony West said, “each of those individuals [who are assaulted] represent an individual who has undergone a horrific trauma.”
While the numbers are difficult to see, the company understands the importance of releasing the information. Karen Baker, the chief executive officer of National Sexual Violence Resource Center said, “I think that Uber is setting a high bar for corporate responsibility and transparency.” With sexual assault leadership asserting Uber’s choices, they’re setting an example for the world while adressing sexual assault within their company.