Uber Commits $5 Million To Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence Prevention (gizmodo.com)

Uber announced on Sunday that it's taking new steps toward preventing sexual assault and domestic violence, starting with a $5 million donation to its partners -- Raliance, National Network to End Domestic Violence, No More, Women of Color Network, Casa de Esperanza, A Call to Men, and The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs -- along with an employee training program and in-app messaging to educate riders and drivers. Gizmodo reports: "As a result of this ongoing collaboration we have begun to make important changes internally and will commit to use Uber's scope and visibility to help drive awareness, education, and prevention of sexual assault and domestic violence to millions globally," said Uber's announcement. Uber wrote on its blog that its technology "enhances safety for riders and drivers in ways that weren't possible before such as GPS tracking, the ability to share a trip with family and friends, and 24/7 support through the app." But the company has failed to adopt measures like more rigorous driver background checks, despite urging by lawmakers. The ride-sharing service left Austin altogether last year (along with Lyft) because it refused to fingerprint its drivers. Uber has argued that mandated fingerprinting is too burdensome. Advocates for fingerprinting argue that it helps ensure rider safety.

Comments

Re:Where is the money coming from?

[Trailer Trash]

The other question is "where is the money going to?" Frankly, it looks to me that rather than actually do something within their company they're paying penance to various "anti-violence" organizations.

This is the Jesse Jackson playbook in reverse. If you're not aware of his shakedown scam, he targets an organization claiming they have a racism problem. The "solution" is simple - a donation to his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition group fixes everything and he moves on to the next target.

It really smells like Uber has decided that rather fix problems within their organization they'll throw money at a few outside organizations so that they can point to it whenever this topic comes up.