Uber Drivers In Pakistan Will Attend mandatory Seminars On Sexual Harassment

Uber launched in Pakistan on Thursday, but drivers within the u . s ., in contrast to these in most of Uber’s sixty nine markets, will need to attend a seminar about sexual harassment ahead of they may be able to settle for passengers during the ride-hailing app.

Hosted by a third-party organization, the seminars will drivers on sexual harassment insurance policies. “It’s basic things, like they may not be aware of that telling a girl that she’s beautiful might if truth be told represent sexual harassment,” Uber spokesperson Shaden Abdellatif tells fast firm. “It’s that general stage of education that hasn’t [typically] been provided [in Pakistan] prior to, particularly within the transport business.”

though Pakistan made place of business sexual harassment a punishable crime in 2010, there is a perception that public transportation is hazardous, especially for ladies. Uber has also instituted mandatory sexual harassment seminars for drivers in Egypt, where greater than 99% of women in a U.N. find out about stated they had been sexually pressured.

In Pakistan, Uber may even require drivers to finish further screening hurdles, including submitting a police verification certificates and a personality referral, which Abdellatif described as a common aspect of provider-business jobs in Pakistan “that recommends that person and says the individual has a just right work ethic, has labored on this job.”

Uber’s safety got here into question in 2014 after a driver in Delhi used to be arrested on costs that he had raped a passenger who had employed him in the course of the app (the driving force has since been sentenced to lifestyles in jail for the crime). at the similar time, others have mentioned how apps like Uber could benefit women in locations with restricted secure public transportation choices.

Uber’s Pakistan launch, for now restricted to Lahore, the u . s . a .’s 2d-biggest metropolis, is a component of a $250 million enlargement throughout the center East and North Africa. as a result of credit and debit cards are distinctive in Pakistan (by means of one estimate, there are about 23 million playing cards among 182 million individuals), the journey-hailing firm will accept money transactions, a concession it also makes in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, in addition to in some components of India and Africa.