Uber is a leading ridesharing app, operating in 80 countries with a significant market presence. Despite its popularity, there have been multiple reported safety incidents involving female passengers in India, raising concerns about women’s safety while using the service. In response, Uber has implemented safety features for women, such as the option to request women drivers, share ride details with contacts, and a panic button for emergencies.

1. Uber
Women Safety
Uber - Women Safety & Initiatives

2.  Uber is one of the most popular ridesharing apps in the world.
 Uber is available in 80 countries and over 750 cities
worldwide.
 Based in San Francisco, their global net revenue amounted to
11.3 billion U.S. dollars.
 Figures vary, but Uber valuation in 2018 was $72 billion.
 Uber has completed more than 5 billion rides.
 Over 3 million people drive with Uber every year.
A brief introduction to Uber and its presence over the globe

3. Here’s a look at where all Uber provides its services:
o The color blue represents the availability of Uber and its services across the regions.

4. Monthly number of Uber's active users worldwide from 2016 to
2019 (in millions)

5. Uber controls 40% of the market in India – the world’s third-biggest.
Here, domestic rival Ola is the market leader, with a share of 56%.

6. How likely are the Uber cabs safe for women?

7.  December 2014: An Uber driver in Delhi molested a woman returning from work
at 9:30pm and threatened to kill her if she reported the incident to the police.
 June 2015: An Uber driver in Delhi kissed a passenger’s hand then pulled her over
as friends watched.
 July 2017: A Delhi-based journalist said that an Uber cab driver suddenly stopped
the vehicle on the Greater Noida expressway and began calling his friends. She
quickly informed her own friends who later rescued her.
 September 2017: A woman was allegedly molested by an Uber driver in Mumbai.
“He touched my hands, tried to come closer,” she had said.
 March 2018: A 22-year-old Uber driver was arrested in Haryana for
allegedly abducting and sexually harassing a woman after she boarded his cab.
Some incidents of sexual assault and abuse against the female
passengers by Uber drivers in India

8. But can we really pin the entire blame on Uber?
 According to the NCRB 2012 report, the current conviction rate of rape in India is
as low as 24.21%.
 The extremely low conviction rate only gives confidence for repeat offenders to
carry out more attacks without any fear of law.
 The lack of national databases of criminal records come out as a severe fault on
the part of the government and the police.
 The police and state governments are also unaware about the technical
operations of such taxi services and operations.

9. Backlash on Social Media/Twitter
 Women have contrasting opinions on the services provided by Uber, with a lot of
them going to social media platforms and reporting about them. Here are a few
instances:

10. Social Media Acclamations
While some women may have faced certain discomfort with relation to personal safety
with Uber, there are a lot of other women passengers who have had satisfying experiences
with Uber. Below are a few testimonials coming from female passengers on Twitter:

11. 1. Share your ride info with your contacts – With Uber,
you can share your ride details with up to 5 people in
your contact list along with all the information about
your ride, including the driver name, car number, the
location of your car, License plate, and live GPS
tracking in real time, and can act as an early warning
if something goes wrong.
2. Car-pooling with other women - The main focus of
this feature is to request a driver exclusively for
carpooling with other women riders. Through this
service, you can share the ride with others who pass
via the same direction or destination and can split
the fare accordingly.
Uber introduced new safety features for women passengers

12. 3. Request A Woman Driver - In Uber, there is a
genuine feature implemented for the women
which allows them to request only women driver
from their profile. This feature mainly focuses on
safety of the women which helps them to stay
protected with a verified woman driver before
committing the journey. The government has
been in-talks with the taxi booking companies to
implement this feature for woman safety.
4. Uber Panic Button - Uber allows you to call the
police in cases of emergency through SOS. In this
advanced feature, you have a “ShareMyETA”
option, also known as “Panic Button”. When you
click this button, it acts as an early warning when
something has gone wrong.
5. Travel With Special Needs - Uber aims to provide a
comfortable ride with safety, and not just for
women, to parents with kids, handicapped or sick
people also. They can avail the arrangements
especially catered by Uber for their journey.

13. Driving towards equality
o With the #UberStar initiative, Uber celebrates its unsung heroes.