{"id":45936,"date":"2021-12-09T01:17:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-09T01:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/?p=45936"},"modified":"2021-12-19T20:04:10","modified_gmt":"2021-12-19T20:04:10","slug":"i-cant-go-around-london-by-myself-an-interview-with-victims-of-harassment-and-stalking-by-uber-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/i-cant-go-around-london-by-myself-an-interview-with-victims-of-harassment-and-stalking-by-uber-drivers\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI can\u2019t go around London by myself\u201d \u2013 An interview with victims of harassment and stalking by Uber drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reports of sexual harassment on public transport have more than doubled with Uber\u2019s background checks raising eyebrows. Teacher assistant Am\u00e9l\u00e9 Sossavi and student Victoria De Angelis share their traumatic experience riding with the ride-hailing company.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just felt like\u2026 What is going on? Is he going to try and find me? Is he going to kill me? Is he going to rape me?\u201d As I listen to Am\u00e9l\u00e9 sharing her traumatising experience with the Uber driver that harassed and stalked her, I get goosebumps. Partly because the confidence in her voice doesn\u2019t manage to hide the fear of that traumatising night, but mostly because it scares me how relatable her story sounds to me as a woman living in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an increase of 61% reports of sexual harassment on public transport<\/a> over the summer, Uber often sounds like the least dangerous option. It is in fact safe to say that London is Uber\u2019s most important market in Europe.<\/a> What is not safe on the other hand is how women feel when using Uber. Am\u00e9l\u00e9 Sossavi and Victoria De Angelis are just two of the multitude of negative experiences that highlight an issue in Uber\u2019s hiring process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"person
Photo by Paul Hanaoka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Am\u00e9l\u00e9 is a teaching assistant in South London. She decided to use Uber XL to move a few boxes into her new place that she was going to share with a friend. \u201cI never give my precise address but I had to move many boxes so I did this time\u201d she clarifies. After being helped by a friend to put her belongings on the back of the car she was left alone with the Uber driver. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe kept staring at me from the mirror and that made me feel uncomfortable\u201d She recalls. \u201cAre you married? Why isn\u2019t your partner helping you? Can I get your number?\u201d While lying to most of the questions hoping he’d lose interest, the last request was one he wasn\u2019t willing to give up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Can I get your number?”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By the time she arrived at her destination he had become so insisting she decided to do what most women would have done, she left a fake phone number to escape the uncomfortable situation and opened the door to her house trying to shake off the past conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same door which just a few days after her Uber driver stuck a note to \u201cHey it\u2019s Habib, your number didn\u2019t work. Call me on *******\u201d. Am\u00e9l\u00e9 decided to ignore the note, but just a few days later, while she was at work, trouble came knocking again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Photo by Am\u00e9l\u00e9 Sosssavi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Am\u00e9l\u00e9 was working in a school near where Sabina Nessa was killed, when she received a text from one of her flatmates \u201cAm\u00e9l\u00e9 your Uber driver just came to the house\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was the scariest experience ever. At that moment I broke down at work. I was on my break and I couldn\u2019t return back to work. Emotions were really hyped and I just wondered: What is going on? Is he going to try and find me? Is he going to kill me? Is he going to rape me?\u201d The young woman explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Screenshot by Am\u00e9l\u00e9 Sossavi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Am\u00e9l\u00e9 had already contacted Uber asking for their help which they didn\u2019t provide. She decided to go to the police and contact Uber again who didn\u2019t give her any reassuring information and only said they would have started an investigation. While Uber never got in touch with her after that, the company informed the police that the driver had been fired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What is going on? Is he going to try and find me? Is he going to kill me? Is he going to rape me?”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Am\u00e9l\u00e9 felt forced to rethink her habits. \u201cI am trying not to live my life in fear. I have started taking self-defence classes and also started driving lessons so I can get my own vehicle, until then I don\u2019t think I will feel safe getting into somebody else\u2019s car\u201d She shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After this traumatic experience Am\u00e9l\u00e9 took to Instagram to share her story to which she unexpectedly received so much support by many women who had gone through scarily similar situations with the ride-hailing company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Exclusive:
Screenshot of Am\u00e9l\u00e9 Sossavi’s Instagram story<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of which is Victoria De Angelis. The 21 year-old student was on her uber ride home from her boyfriend\u2019s house. Having lived in London for some time Victoria was very aware of the dangers that public transport comports for a woman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A brief small talk later and the Uber driver was asking her out and making inappropriate comments about how they would get along. Once she arrived at her destination, \u00a0after politely turning him down, she exited the car and opened the back to get the box she had put there before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe tried to help me carrying it but it was a light box and all I wanted was to get out of that situation so I told him I could handle it\u201d Victoria explains. She made sure to include the fact that her flatmate was waiting upstairs hoping that would discourage him to try anything more reckless but he accused her of lying saying she was only saying that because she did not want him to come up to her flat. His tone was aggressive, he now knew where she lived and was not accepting any rejection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Victoria text conversation with her flatmate <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Luckily Victoria texted her flatmate and asked her to come downstairs, which ended the uncomfortable situation. Victoria hasn\u2019t taken an Uber by herself ever since: \u201cUber is supposed to be a safer option when trying to get around London but the fact that experiences like this one keep happening to us women is highlighting an issue and it is compromising women\u2019s independence. I can\u2019t go around London by myself and I don\u2019t think that is fair. What am I to blame for? Being a woman?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What am I to blame for? Being a woman?”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When asked about the background checks run on their drivers Uber told Voice of London they do not run any background checks other than the ones run by TFL. So what are Uber’s future plans to assure safer journeys for women using their services ? When asked Uber was unable to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So in the words of Am\u00e9l\u00e9 Sossavi: \u201cIf transport is not safe for women, where are we supposed to feel safe? How are we supposed to go places ?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to read more? You might like\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

London\u2019s Uber prices are rising<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Everything has changed\u201d: the story behind why Taylor Swift is re-recording her albums<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UN campaigns for elimination of violence against women<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words: Nina Marangon|Subbing: Tia Janowski<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reports of sexual harassment on public transport have more than doubled with Uber\u2019s background checks raising eyebrows. Teacher assistant Am\u00e9l\u00e9 Sossavi and student Victoria De Angelis share their traumatic experience riding with the ride-hailing company….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":45937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,22,53,82,84,93,134],"tags":[3804,6530,7117],"class_list":["post-45936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activism","category-awareness","category-cars","category-feminism-2","category-lifestyle","category-london","category-news","category-uknews","tag-london-news","tag-uber","tag-women-safety"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45936"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47548,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45936\/revisions\/47548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}