ALBAWABA - Egyptian women's rights activists have launched a new campaign to boycott Uber services after the story of Habiba Shamaa, who jumped out of a car amid fears of being kidnapped.
The hashtag "#مقاطعة_أوبر (#Boycott_Uber)" has been trending in Egypt following a campaign launched where many Egyptian females spoke about similar harassment and abuse cases committed by Uber drivers.
Via the hashtag, many girls have spoken up about their "horrific" and "heartbreaking" stories about their exposure to "harassment," "abuse," and "assault" by drivers of the famous app, which is considered among the most prominent transportation services and has achieved popularity in Egypt and the Middle East.
The campaign participants called for strict measures to be taken by the management of the famous application in order to ensure the safety of passengers, including improving the mechanism for controlling drivers’ behavior and training them to deal with passengers professionally.
On the other hand, some people defended Uber drivers and refuted these allegations, by saying that the famous application was subjected to a campaign of "deliberate abuse," pointing out that there were some individual cases, but that does not mean that all drivers are "harassers."
The story of Habiba Shamaa:
Shamaa, 24, was exposed to a kidnapping attempt after she requested a cab from the famous app, Uber, in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
According to local Egyptian media, the woman took a ride to meet her friends at about 6:50 p.m. from 5th Settlement, where she lives. after ridding the car, Habiba called her mother, but she wasn't able to hear her daughter due to the loud music sound inside the car.
the mother called Habiba Shamaa again and was surprised after a stranger picked up the phone saying that her daughter threw herself outside of the car.
Furthermore, an eyewitness, who saw the girl and was able to get some information about the incident, Shamaa told him that she was riding in an Uber car, and when the car driver tried to harras her, she jumped out of the car, she was taken to the hospital.
After being hospitalized, Habiba Shamaa was in a coma in an intensive care room in a hospital in New Cairo.
