How Uber plans to aid thousands of domestic abuse victims during coronavirus pandemic
Rideshare giant Uber is pledging to help domestic violence victims stay safe amid city and statewide lockdowns in response to the coronavirus.
On Thursday, the company announced that it’s teaming up with domestic abuse organizations and local governments across 35 cities in 16 countries to provide 50,000 free rides to shelters and safe havens.
“We’ve expanded longstanding partnerships and initiated new ones with incredible organizations like the Safe Center LI in New York, Femmes Avec in Paris, WESNET in Australia, Nissa Institute for Women’s Development in Johannesburg, YWCA in Canada and so many more,” the company said in a statement. “We’re extremely grateful for their tireless efforts to support our communities during this especially difficult time.”
Uber will also donate over 45,000 free meals for abuse victims, the company announced.
As of Friday, the U.S. had more than 870,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 50,000 deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. Globally, the highly transmissible virus has infected nearly 2,740,000 and caused more than 140,000 deaths, the data shows.
Fears over spread of the disease have prompted shelter-in-place orders across the U.S. and abroad. Since then, law enforcement officials say there’s been an uptick in domestic incidents as families are forced to hunker down at home.
A nationwide survey of police agencies conducted by NBC News found that of the 22 precincts that responded to requests for data on domestic abuse calls, 18 said they saw a rise in March. According to the report, “Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, police fielded 517 additional calls about domestic violence in March compared to the same month last year — an 18 percent jump.”
Police agencies in Charleston, South Carolina; East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana; Montgomery County, Texas and Fresno County, California also reported an increase in domestic violence cases in March, NBC News reported.
As a former police detective, Uber’s Head of Global Women’s Safety Tracey Breeden said she’s seen the horrors of domestic abuse firsthand.
“Home is not always a safe space for everyone,” Breeden told McClatchy News in a statement. “Now, with stay-at-home orders in place across the world, many face an increased risk of domestic violence with few safe options to access resources and help. We want to do our small part to help survivors access life-saving services and find a safe place to shelter.”
Allison Randall, vice president for Policy and Emerging Issues at the National Network to End Domestic Violence, noted that survivors often don’t have access to a car, adding that the COVID-19 crisis has also limited public transportation.
“Local domestic violence programs are still open and available to help survivors, but without transportation, survivors have no way to get there, much less to a doctor’s appointment, grocery store, or courthouse,” Randall said in a statement. “We are so grateful to Uber – our longstanding partner – for providing these lifesaving free rides to survivors.”
Those experiencing domestic abuse can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).