Uber, founded in 2009 as Ubercab, has grown into a multinational ride-hailing company. The company now operates in nearly 800 metropolitan areas. Accessing their services is as easy as a swipe on a smartphone by any of their 110 million users worldwide.
Controversy soon ended the honeymoon that Uber enjoyed. Complaints by drivers of unfair treatment from Uber made banner headlines. However, their inaugural safety report revealed how some drivers are supposedly treating their customers.
Underreported criminal claims or false accusations?
Detailed in the 84-page document were allegations of sexual assaults by drivers numbering into the thousands. However, only a third were actually reported to law enforcement officials.
In response to the revelation, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi asserted that their focus is on the supposed survivor of the alleged criminal act. The CEO clarified that police were not called due to advocacy groups advising that sexual assault victims should be the sole decision-maker in these times of criminal accusations.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted a survey in 2013 that revealed approximately 34 percent of sexual assault allegations never involved the police, similar to Uber’s numbers. Either there are sexual assaults left unreported, or those accused did not commit any crimes at all.
The accusation of sexual assault alone is severe and can ruin personal lives and professional pursuits, including students putting themselves through college with a job in the ride-hailing industry. Rape is a crime that carries numerous consequences, from a prison sentence to a lifetime on a sex offender registry.
Getting to the facts in these emotionally-charged legal matters is nothing to handle without skilled counsel. The stakes are far too high.
