Uber brings their Gender Sensitization and Awareness Workshops for Driver Partners to Chennai

• Uber, the world’s largest on-demand ride-sharing company has partnered with Manas Foundation, a Delhi based NGO  working in the field of mental health and gender equity and justice for the last 15 years, to scale up their gender sensitization workshops for its driver partners in Chennai.

Since Uber arrived in India, they have established themselves as an alternative means of transportation for many, especially for millions of women who seek to move freely. Women who move to their place of work, who return from academies to their home or who go out to have fun, among other hundreds of activities that women perform every day in our cities. 

Uber believes that violence against women is a widespread problem in India, one that needs to be addressed with a multi-sectoral and collaborative approach. Technology has the power to transform how we address safety and create these new alternatives, but at the same time, a lot needs to be done, specifically to deploy scalable sensitising solutions. That is why, in addition to continuing to develop technology and processes that contribute to the safety of all those who use the Uber app, we also partnered with Manas Foundation to customise sessions for our driver partners to sensitise them with the nuances of gender and its implications.

Kicked off nationally with training more than 6900 driver partners in 2018, this partnership aims to strengthen Uber’s commitment towards sensitizing and educating driver partners to create a safer platform for riders and drivers. The workshops consist of in-person gender sensitization program to driver partners associated with Uber and are facilitated by trainers from Manas Foundation in regular batches every day, across different cities. The customised driver sensitisation sessions are focussed on safety, with specific attention given to behaviour on the platform and women’s safety. Manas has already developed a unique, behaviour-change module to engage men in transforming public transport into a safe space for women. They apply the principles of psychology to combat violence against women through interventions with drivers of public transport vehicles.

The partnership has seen an enthusiastic response from the driver partners. The sessions are conducted twice a day for 6 days a week, with each of them being attended by 10-30 driver partners on an average. Uber has been able to reach out to thousands of driver partners in the country, helped transform public transport into safe spaces for women and aims to continue increasing this number further. 

PavanVaish - Head of Operations, India and South Asia said, “At Uber, we believe in the transformative potential of technology to create these new alternatives, but at the same time, we recognize that we still have a lot to contribute, specifically in terms of how to confront structural and systemic social phenomena such as gender based violence. That is why, to further reiterate our commitment towards building safer cities and the safety of all those who use the Uber app, we are scaling up our nationwide gender sensitization workshops delivered by Manas Foundation. We have seen an overwhelming response from our driver partners who display their certificates with great pride inside their cars.”

Adding to this, Monica Kumar, Co-Founder, Manas Foundationsaid,  “We are very excited to scale up this distinctive program with Uber to engage men in taking ownership of the safety of their women passengers. These sessions involve participatory activities that clearly explain the concept of gender and how the laws governing gender discrimination and abuse have changed over the last few years. The training helps clarify what encompasses sexual harassment and it is this understanding of the issue that has been crucial to the change in the treatment of women – as commuters and members of their own families.”

Furthermore, Uber has introduced several innovative features to bring transparency, accountability and strengthen the safety of riders before, during and after a trip. The recently launched 24/7 safety helpline is the latest in a series of initiatives Uber has launched recently such as  a safety toolkit for riders and drivers; call anonymisation to protect the privacy of riders; comprehensive background checks of drivers and updated community guidelines, which outline the behavior expected of riders and drivers on the app to foster mutual respect. To ensure seamless post-trip assistance, Uber has a 24/7 safety response team for riders and drivers along with a dedicated law enforcement response team for assisting police with any information they might need. 

Safety at Heart 

Today, with 24x7 availability of rides at just the touch of a button, riders have access to mobility and they feel secure to travel around the city at any time of the day. Safety is at the heart of everything Uber does. Every day, their technology puts millions of people in cabs, around the world.

For Uber, safety never stops and it has been harnessing the power of technology to bring transparency and accountability through safety features such as two-way feedback and ratings, telematics and GPS, among others. However, awareness is a key part of safety and new features mean nothing unless the consumers know how to make the most of them. Here’s a brief guide to the features available to you when you ride with Uber:

Rider Safety

• GPS-tracked rides from start to finish. 
• Riders can see their route clearly marked, and the location of their car, on the app throughout their journey. You'll never feel lost.
• Two-way call anonymisation
• Uber does not share your contact information. Calls and messages sent through the app don’t reveal your personal number.
• Community Guidelines
• Updated community guidelines that clearly reject any inappropriate and disrespectful behavior by rider or driver.
• Safety toolkit
• Safety center
• Riders can find safety tips and learn about the driver screening processes, insurance protections, and community guidelines
• Emergency button
• Need emergency help fast? Tap the safety shield icon on the map to pull up your emergency button and connect. The button allows you to quickly connect with law enforcement. As an additional layer, the internal response team at Uber calls back the rider as well within a short span of time.  
• Trusted Contacts and Share your trip feature:
• It’s easier than ever to share your trip details with loved ones so they can follow along as you ride. Just go to your Uber app settings, select “Manage Trusted Contacts,” and add the person of your choice (up to 5). Then you’ll always be prompted to share your trip with them with just one tap.
• 24x7 Safety Helpline
• Riders now have access to a 24x7 helpline for any urgent, non-emergency issue that may occur during a trip giving riders a plethora of options to be safe.
• 24/7 Support Team
• Rapid Response: Uber’s 24/7 support and safety team handles any issues that riders or drivers face. We have a dedicated Incident Response Team to answer any urgent issues. If we receive a report that there has been an accident or incident, we can suspend the relevant parties and prevent them from accessing the platform until the matter is resolved.  

• Law enforcement response team  (LERT)
• A team of professionals who are on call to work with police 24/7 to respond to urgent needs and assist them in an investigation.
• Driver screening and Background check: A screening process that draws on the most current, available, and publicly available court records and a background screening of driver partners is done by an independent partner. 
• Women Safety
• Gender sensitisation workshop
• Driver partners undergo in-person gender sensitisation workshops with our partner, Manas Foundation on how to behave with riders, especially with women riders.
• Check Your Ride in-app notifications
• Uber reminds you to always match the car model, license plate, and driver with the information in your app. Before you hop into a car, check the app for your driver’s information and then have your driver confirm your name before the trip.
• Always, always Report: Most importantly,if you experience a safety incident when using Uber, the first priority is to ensure your personal safety. Once you’re in a safe place, don’t forget to follow up and ensure the company is aware of what happened. Go to your Settings menu, tap Your Trips, and select the trip at issue. You’ll see a menu with a list of issues to report. Tap the appropriate one to report it through the app. 

In the light of these positive initiatives, Uber has witnessed a trend of increasing and consistent usage of the app by all; especially women. The upward curve is a strong reflection of Uber’s focus and commitment to platform safety.  💥💥