Uber users in France can now insist on a female driver with Thursday’s launch of the “Uber by Women” option, aimed at providing women traveling alone with a greater sense of comfort and security.
The new feature, already available in Poland and parts of Latin America, allows passengers to request female drivers exclusively.
“It’s not a question of telling them that this is the only way to travel with complete peace of mind, but just of giving them a choice,” explained Laureline Serieys, General Manager of Uber France. The option is free for female passengers.
The initiative, which seeks to address safety concerns, will inevitably lead to longer wait times with just over 3 percent of regular Uber drivers in France being female.
To attract more women to the platform, Uber is offering an exceptional reduction in service fees for female drivers in Paris and Île-de-France. The commission, usually set at 25 percent, will drop to 15 percent until Feb. 28, 2025.
Serieys highlighted that Uber rarely offers such promotions, signaling the company’s commitment to diversifying its driver base.
While the average wait time for a ride is 3–4 minutes, users of the new feature may need to wait 15–20 minutes, at least initially.
Uber-France emphasizes that the initiative aligns with its broader efforts to tackle security concerns and fight against sexist and sexual violence. According to Serieys, the feature represents a continuation of “very long-term work on security issues.”
The move follows other preventative measures implemented by municipalities across France following a rise in sexual assaults against women — a disproportionate number of which are committed by foreign nationals.
France ravaged by migrant rapes as spate of sexual assaults targeting elderly women sweep the nation.https://t.co/wfFC288BUs
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) September 25, 2023After an illegal Nigerian migrant was arrested for raping a 38-year-old woman in an underground parking garage of a shopping mall in Metz in September, the city’s mayor announced the introduction of parking spaces reserved for women near exits and elevators across the entire city, along with more surveillance.
Immigrants are forcing towns, cities and even nations to change policies and laws in response to violence and sexual assault. https://t.co/x0fPtIrG4B
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) September 3, 2024A total of 30,780 rapes were reported to authorities in 2021, the most recent year where records are available, up from 22,770 in 2020, and 12,820 in 2016.
The dramatic increase in rapes and sexual assaults coincides with a sharp rise in immigration from North Africa, Africa, and the Middle East.
According to the French interior minister’s office, 48 percent of criminal acts in Paris are committed by foreign nationals, while this figure is 55 percent in Marseille.
