Uber is teaming up with an Egyptian anti-sexual harassment initiative to train its drivers in how to “recognise, prevent and take positive action” against inappropriate behaviour, the company has announced.

All drivers available on the app will undergo the training to ensure “Uber is offering the safest ride in Cairo,” the company said in a recent statement.

The project is being launched in collaboration with Harassmap, an initiative founded in 2010 to end the “social acceptability” of sexual harassment in the country.

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The partnership with Uber is just one of many that makes up the Safe Corporates project, which aims to transform Egyptian workplaces by encouraging a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment. The project targets medium to large businesses and trains employees to take action.

Collaborating with Uber is a significant step for the campaign, since an increasing number of women have reported feeling fearful when riding in taxis.

A 2014 Harassmap study found that at least 95% of women in Egypt had been sexually harassed, most often while walking down the street in broad daylight or while taking public transport.

Uber’s Cairo general manager, Anthony Khoury, said the training will teach the definition, types and prevalence of sexual harassment, its causes and effects, as well as tips on how to react when drivers are either harassed or witness harassment. The training, according to Khoury, is particularly important for Uber’s female drivers.

“This partnership has been done as a response to the general education and training needed against sexual harassment here in Cairo,” he said. “Education is key, which is why this partnership – and the training that comes with it – is a crucial step in stopping sexual harassment.”

Harassmap’s communications manager, Alia Solaiman, explained that the initiative aims to create a role model for other companies to follow. “Creating an environment of safe corporates where a culture against sexual harassment is in place helps a lot,” she explained.

In recent months Uber has been dogged by controversy. Dozens of passengers from around the world have alleged sexual assaults by Uber drivers. Such cases have arisen in France, China and Canada. In India, a woman’s allegation that she was raped by her Uber driver sparked widespread protests and led to a ban on the service in Delhi.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Shiv Kumar Yadav, the Uber driver sentenced to life in prison for raping a passenger. Photograph: Saurabh Das/AP

Women in public

An amendment to the country’s penal code in 2014 criminalised sexual harassment, imposing penalties ranging from six months to five years in prison. However, many rights organisations said the reforms don’t go far enough. In a joint statement last year, rights groups slammed “an atmosphere of state impunity” that further fuels harassment and sexual violence.



Harassmap has been a pioneer in raising awareness of the issue, alongside other more recent projects including the Imprint Movement’s campaign to place comics in Cairo metro stations depicting the repercussions of sexual harassment for women.

Dalia Abdel Hamid, gender issues officer at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said creating safe spaces for women is a crucial step in combating sexual harassment. “Realising that there are corporatations and organisations that are against sexual harassment offers more protection and encouragement to women,” she said.

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But it would be even better if a similar yet wider initiative could be applied to non-Uber taxi drivers, Abdel Hamid argued.



“Women who use Uber are the ones who use private transportation and who have credit cards, which is not the majority of Egyptian women. Women in public transportation and the metro are more exposed to harassment than those who ride their cars and live in compounds,” said Abdel Hamid.

“Of course, all women in Egypt face harassment on a daily basis, but the more money women have, the more protection they receive from harassment.”

Solaiman said that Harassmap has already started, as part of a safe spaces initiative, to train minibus and taxi drivers to confront sexual harassment, but on smaller scale. “Many of the targeted drivers are extremely responsive when they are aware with the roots of harassment and its effects on women,” she said.

A version of this article first appeared on Mada Masr