On Dec. 5, 2019, Uber released a safety disclosure which showed data concerning traffic accidents and reports of sexual assault on drivers and passengers.

The disclosure revealed there were 6,000 reports of sexual assault between 2017 and 2018, including both sexual assaults on drivers and passengers. Additionally, it reported 107 deaths due to traffic accidents.

Uber has announced they’re going to implement safety features, such as cameras, and further develop the emergency help button on the app. The disclosure is the first of its kind within the industry.

Uber’s main competitor, Lyft, has yet to release data related to issues of sexual assault. Uber released the disclosure after continuous pressure from sexual assault victims. Similarly, Lyft has been facing increasing pressure from sexual assault victims and has even been charged with causing a sexual assault epidemic.

Unfortunately, without the increasing pressure from victims and the public at large, Uber would have ignored the data and kept it hidden. Although, they deserve a miniscule amount of credit for releasing the disclosure, but ultimately, Uber ignored the problem until they couldn’t.

This is business as usual for companies, governments and our society at large when it comes to sexual assault.

Focusing only on the transportation market, most transportation businesses lack reporting on sexual assault and violence. Taxis lack reporting on sexual assault and violence, as do subway transit systems.

Uber correlated its data to that of the number of reported sexual assaults to police on the New York City subway system. These numbers aren’t substantial, though.

Rape, sexual assault and sexual violence remain some of the most underreported crimes in our society. Rainn.org reports that, “Only 230 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to the police. That means 3 out of 4 go unreported.”

The blame should not fall on the victims.

The problem lies in the structures meant to help. Uber and Lyft both wanted to ignore the increasing problem of sexual assault or solve it with cheap patchwork.

Uber may be implementing new safety features according to the disclosure, but it should also implement a new culture of taking these reports seriously. We all should.

True Dabill can be reached at dabi7280@stthomas.edu.