Women still experience harassment that jeopardises their safety and independence, despite tremendous advancements in gender equality. This harsh reality was brought home by a recent incident in which a female lawyer who used Uber to book a ride received offensive messages from the driver. She brought the issue to the public’s attention after filing a complaint because the corporation did not provide a sufficient response. It would be an understatement to say that shortly after the issue went viral.
An Uber driver harassed a female lawyer, and the company’s response infuriated her.
After scheduling an Uber journey, Tanya Sharma, a lawyer from Delhi-NCR, experienced harassment in a very upsetting episode. When she told Jitendra Kumar, the designated driver, that she would be five minutes late, he sent her a crude and offensive reply that said,
“Jaldi aao babu yaar, man ho rha hai.”
Tanya reported the event to Uber and promptly cancelled the ride since she was shocked and upset by this behaviour.
But the company’s reaction was far from satisfactory. Given the gravity of the situation, Tanya felt that Uber’s generic and empathetic response to her was woefully insufficient in lieu of prompt and significant action. She shared her experience on social media after becoming frustrated with the lack of responsibility. She expressed her worries about women’s safety in public places, especially in supposedly upscale parts of the city, by sharing screenshots of the nasty texts and Uber’s unresponsive response.
“We live in the 21st century, and still, things are so pathetic and traumatic for people daily that even an auto driver can harass you in broad daylight… in one of the poshest areas of the city. I booked an Uber, and within five minutes, I started getting disturbing texts. I canceled the booking and filed a complaint, but Uber India’s grievance redressal process seems to involve sending a sympathetic message to the victim and then forgetting about it. Is this how it works?”
Tanya also questioned Uber’s accountability for passenger safety and criticised the company’s grievance redressal procedure in her social media post. During the 48 hours Uber stated it needed to resolve her complaint, she emphasised the possible risk to other women.
“What if this same thing happened to other women during these so-called 48 hours of your policy? Are you ready to take responsibility for my safety and the safety of those women out there?”
Her brave decision to speak out on the matter made her post go viral.
Have a look at her whole post
Here is how netizens reacted
After learning about the offensive statements, internet users expressed their fury. Numerous others even related their negative Uber ride experiences.
Uber suspends a driver after a widely shared post provokes strong criticism.
Tanya Sharma’s social media post about being harassed by an Uber driver went viral, and the corporation was heavily criticised by the public. Outrage about the incident was raised. The corporation was under a lot of pressure as a result of the extensive criticism, and it decided to take firm action against the concerned driver.
Uber permanently barred the accused driver, Jitendra Kumar, from the service in response to the mounting indignation. Tanya thanked all of her supporters and revealed the news in a follow-up post. She also acknowledged the group effort that made the action possible and thanked everyone who shared their personal tales. Although she was relieved that the driver could no longer harass other passengers, she underlined how critical it is to escalate these kinds of problems and increase awareness in order to guarantee improved safety precautions for women going forward.
“Thanks for everyone who supported and shared their experiences. I’m grateful that people around me was actually there for me in this situation and Uber addressed and banned the driver from Uber platform, so he cannot do this to anyone else.. but please escalate such matters with seriousness and more importantly let others aware.”
