Addison Lee UN Women UK Partnership Q&A

1. Details of the partnership  

Q: What is Addison Lee doing to support this initiative? 

 Addison Lee is UN Women UK’s transport partner as part of their Safe Spaces Now campaign. 

 This sees Addison Lee supporting the UN Women UK’s Safe Spaces Now campaign with dedicated fundraising focused on events during the year. This will begin with 16 days of awareness raising from the 25th November, the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women, to the 10th December, Human Rights Day. During this time Addison Lee passengers will be invited to donate to UN Women UK causes with Addison Lee donating £1 for each booking made through the app during the 16 days of activism. We commit to raise £10,000 during this period.  

 We also have a direct role to play in making London’s streets safer for women. That’s why we are co-designing a training module for PHV and taxi drivers in partnership with UN Women UK. This module will ensure that drivers can better recognise and aid women who might need support. This training will be added to Addison Lee’s existing safety training for drivers and rolled out to all employees.  

Q: Will ComCab be part of this campaign? 

 ComCab drivers and Addison Lee partner drivers will both take part in the training module so that they can better recognise and come to the aid of women who might need support. We’re also issuing UN Women UK approved guidance to all ComCab and Addison Lee partner drivers to help them recognise where they may need to offer support to women.  

Q: What does the training for drivers involve?  

 The training will include UN Women UK approved modules on how someone should act if they think a passenger or member of the public is vulnerable, which organisations to call to report any incidents and wider awareness of women’s safety, including the types of behaviours that may make a person feel uncomfortable.  

1. Safety issues  

Q: Addison Lee drivers have previously been involved in the harassment or women. Why should women trust you now?  

 We take passenger safety extremely seriously and all drivers go through a rigorous selection and training process. We have a zero-tolerance policy to any kind of behaviour that makes any passenger feel threatened. In the past, on the very rare occasion where there has been an incident of this nature, we have taken swift and decisive action to deal with the situation to ensure passenger safety is protected.  

 This latest campaign recognises that more can be done to ensure women feel as safe as possible when travelling in London. The modules and training we’re introducing with UN Women UK are designed to strengthen the safety of all our passengers even further.  

Q: How will you ensure that Addison Lee continues to be a safe space for women after the campaign?  

 The modules and training we’re introducing with UN Women UK are designed to strengthen our passenger’s safety and will remain a permanent feature of our driver training programme. We’re also committed to continuous engagement with our many partners and stakeholders to ensure our services continue to be safe. 

Q: Shouldn’t women look to the proper authorities and police to protect them?  

 UN Women UK has rightly identified taxis and private hire cars as an important means of transportation to get around London safely. It is right that we take responsibility for ensuring that our drivers are trained to ensure our taxis and private hire cars are a safe space.  

Q: What about other minority groups, what are you doing to support them?  

 UN Women UK’s research found that over 70% of women in the UK have experienced sexual harassment in public. Our partnership with UN Women UK as their transport partner for their Safe Spaces Now campaign is designed to ensure women feel as safe as possible when travelling in London. However, the safety of every passenger is extremely important to us, and we believe everyone should be treated equally regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, race, faith or beliefs. The training programme we are developing with UN Women UK will provide drivers will the tools and knowledge to identify vulnerable passengers, in particular women and those of marginalised genders.