6000 Cases of Sexual Assault in the Last 2 Years, Uber Reveals in Its Safety Report

The ride-sharing company Uber has recently released its highly anticipated safety report, which revealed among other details, the reports of 5981 cases of sexual assault it has received in the years 2017 and 2018. Among the 5981 cases, there were 464 reports of rape. It was the first time that such a large number of cases had been put to the issue.

Last year in response to an investigation, which found 103 Uber drivers in the United States, had been accused of sexual assault and abusing their passengers. The drivers were either arrested, wanted by police or had been named in the civil suits related to the incidents. Uber then pledged to release the safety report; finally, it took a year for Uber to disclose this shocking revelation only in the US. Many other countries such as India have registered several cases of sexual assault and abuse by the drivers of Uber.

In the year 2018, Uber has announced it has increased safety measures, which includes its partnership with RapidSOS, a company that immediately sends a rider’s location and relevant information to the nearest police station, when the rider presses the emergency button in the Uber app. 

Uber also has said, it has revamped its background check policy, so to conduct annual checks on the drivers. The company also assured that it would do away with a policy that previously forced individuals with the complaints of sexual assault into arbitration and made them sign some non-disclosure agreements.

In May this year, Uber went public but warned its investors in its IPO paperwork about the report, where it has said, the report could negatively impact its brand. 

As precisely the company says in its filing, “The public responses to this transparency report or similar public reporting of safety incidents claimed to have occurred on our platform may result in negative media coverage and increased regulatory scrutiny and could adversely affect our reputation with platform users”.

Uber and its competitor Lyft have faced several legal actions, related to the safety issues across the United States. The lack of transparency about the number of such incidents involving drivers has been a sticking point in the lawsuits against the company. Lyft has also said that it will release a safety report by the end of this year. 

Uber Technologies Inc popularly known as Uber is a US-based multinational ride-sharing company, which offers services like ride-sharing, food delivery and micro-mobility system with electric bikes and scooters. The company, which is based in San Francisco, has operations in more than 785 metropolitan areas across the world.