Nor is this issue exclusive to Singapore.
Sexual harassment cases have been reported in the context of other services that are mainstays of the gig economy, such as Airbnb and food-delivery apps. In Singapore, a GrabHitch driver previously convicted of outrage of modesty was found guilty in 2019 of molesting two passengers within an hour of each other.
When such cases of sexual harassment occur and crimes have been alleged, should ride-hailing giants bring in law enforcement or dismiss these cases as misunderstandings that can be privately resolved? In Singapore, Grab bans drivers who commit sexual assault, and provides digital training on what constitutes harassment to all its employees. It also outlines in its code of conduct for drivers what inappropriate actions to abstain from to avoid being inadvertently accused of sexual harassment.
This action triggers a call from an external security company that assesses the passenger’s situation and escalates matters to the police if required. While such ground-up actions are to be lauded for finding new ways to create safe spaces for women, such ideas can be inadvertently problematic: They place the burden of preventing sexual harassment on women, sending the message that women should curtail their freedoms to avoid violence.Companies in Singapore should use the national attention generated by the recent Grab case to put serious measures in place against sexual harassment of both workers and customers.