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

Where is the money coming from?

[drinkypoo]

I keep hearing that Uber is throwing away money to make their name. Is this another example of that, and if so, where did they get the cash? Or are they actually making money now? Last I heard they were maybe profitable in the US, but still just flushing money down the toilet in China.

Re:Where is the money coming from?

[stephanruby]

They sold Uber-China to Didi Chuxing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... And most of the money they're using is from investors. That's why they're trying to do an IPO, because they're running out of private Venture Capital funds.

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.

Re:Where is the money coming from?

[Anonymous Coward]

They're not fixing anything, they're throwing money at one or more organizations for the sake of virtue signalling. The problem is governments let uber and their like get away with the "we're not a taxi company guv' really we're not!" bullshit far too long instead of requiring the same things that taxi companies have been required to do for decades because of the same issues. Background checks, vehicle maintenance checks every 6mo, basic first aid requirements, etc.

But just think if all these issues were prominent and got equal play. We'd be seeing ads like: "women don't grope men in the club" "sticking your hand down his pants because you're drunk, and he's hot, doesn't equal consent." Ask your local male police officer who works a club as on-duty security how many times they're groped and assaulted by women and are expected to just shrug it off. 20-50 times a night is pretty common.

Re:Where is the money coming from?

[AmiMoJo]

By "fixes the the problem" I mean the PR issue, not the actual abuse.

Re:Where is the money coming from?

[davester666]

Sure, it can keep printing greenbacks, but all it takes is a single time for Congress (or the Senate, I forget exactly how it works) to wait until all extraordinary means have been exhausted to keep paying the bills (except it's ordinary now, as we do it all the time) and then decide not to bump up the debt ceiling. And we are electing more and more wack jobs willing to do it, just "because we can".

Even Trump has said that he thinks it would be no big deal for the US to go bankrupt, because he's such a good dealmaker, he could then make a deal on the US debt. Of course, we now have a year of data indicating he is utterly incompetent at making deals, past getting a "I need a Pepsi now" button installed on his desk in the oval office.

Re:And what about other types of violence?

[Anonymous Coward]

... people who'll be more likely to get convinced ...

Someone has decided that 40% of employees must be female and devotees run around madly when it's revealed that's not the case. I saw similar behaviour when communities had to be multi-cultural: In that case, the result was cultural isolation, in a large part, self-imposed; segregation; collapse of the community caused by segregation; gang-driven crime;a denial that subsequent gang violence was caused by said collapse.

It's about proving that society is doing the right thing, even when the people involved, hate it and suffer because of it.

IT insiders repeatedly notice there are better-paying office jobs, well-paying jobs that cater to female strengths, and a number of industries which do not receive similar criticism for having a shortage of male employees. No-one wants to hear those complaints.