NPR Speaks with Rachel Abrams About Lyft Sexual Assault Report
NRP’s Audie Cornish talks with Levin Simes Abrams partner Rachel Abrams about Lyft releasing their first safety report. Lyft reported 4,158 complaints from five of twenty two categories for which data was released, for the years 2017-2019.
Lyft Sexual Assault Report
Lyft categorized sexual assaults reported to the company for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019. Lyft’s report released data about 5 of the 21 categories of sexual misconduct and sexual assault, and did not reveal data on the other 16 categories.
Lyft did not release data for 2020, 2021 or years prior to 2017. Uber had previously released data for 2017 and 2018 and has not updated or released any updates.
Lyft Sexual Misconduct
The Lyft report notes 11 categories of sexual misconduct. All reported claims of sexual misconduct were placed into one of 11 categories. The Lyft safety report revealed figures for 0 of 11 categories. There is no indication as to whether they intend to release any data in the future.
Sexual Misconduct as defined in Lyft’s safety report:
Non-physical conduct (verbal or staring) of a sexual nature that is without consent or has the effect of threatening or intimidating a user against whom such conduct is directed. This includes explicit or nonexplicit verbal comments (or non-verbal, non-physical) such as flirting, personal comments on appearance and inquiries on relationship status. Catcalling (shouting, yelling, whistling) is also defined as sexual misconduct.
| Category | Reported By Lyft? |
| Staring or Leering: Someone gazes at a user in an unpleasant, uncomfortable, prolonged or sexual manner. Staring or leering is constant and unwavering. This includes viewing both sexual and non-sexual body parts. | No |
| Comments or Gestures: Asking Personal Questions: Someone asks specific, probing and personal questions of the user. This would include questions about the user’s personal life, home address, contact information (e.g. phone, email, social media), romantic or sexual preferences. | No |
| Comments or Gestures: Comments About Appearance: Someone makes uncomfortable comments on the user’s appearance. This includes both disparaging and complimentary comments. | No |
| Comments or Gestures: Flirting: Someone makes verbally suggestive comments to the user about engaging in romantic or non-romantic activities. This also includes non-verbal, suggestive flirting, including becoming physically close to a person in a way the user felt was sexual or flirtatious. | No |
| Comments or Gestures: Explicit Gestures: Someone made sexually suggestive gestures at the user. | No |
| Comments or Gestures: Explicit Comments: Someone described or represented sexual activity or body parts in a graphic fashion. | No |
| Displaying Indecent Material: Indecent material, including pornography or other sexual images, was seen by the user. | No |
| Indecent Photography Without Consent: Someone has taken, without consent, an inappropriate photograph of a user’s sexual body part (e.g. down shirt, up skirt, etc.). | No |
| Soliciting Sexual Act: Someone directly asks for a kiss, displays of nudity, sex or contact with a sexual body part (breast, buttock, genitals). This could be a direct solicitation or a solicitation in exchange for money or favors. | No |
| Masturbation / Indecent Exposure: Someone has exposed genitalia and/or is engaging in sexual acts in presence of a user. This excludes public urination where no sexual body part (buttock, penis, breast) was exposed. | No |
| Verbal Threat of Sexual Assault: Someone directed verbal explicit/direct threats of sexual violence at a user. | No |
Lyft Sexual Assault
The Lyft safety report categorizes reported sexual assault into 10 categories. The Lyft safety reports that Lyft received over 4,000 sexual assault reports in 5 of the 10 categories. Lyft did not reveal the number of reported sexual assaults in the other 5 categories, similar to not reporting any sexual misconduct incidents.
Sexual Assault as defined in Lyft’s safety report:
Physical or attempted physical conduct that is reported to be sexual in nature and without the consent of the user. Note:
1. Sexual body parts are defined as the mouth, female breasts, buttocks or genitalia. The phrase “between the legs” is considered to reference a sexual body part. All other body parts are characterized as nonsexual.
2. When only a non-sexual body part is involved, either of the following provides context for the “sexual nature” of the contact/attempted contact:
• Sexual misconduct of any type
• Reporter’s explicit perception that the contact was either flirtatious, romantic or sexual
| Category | Reported by Lyft? |
| Attempted Touching: Non-Sexual Body Part: Someone attempted to touch, but did not come into contact with, any non-sexual body part (hand, leg, thigh) of the user, and the user perceived the attempt to be sexual. | No |
| Attempted Kissing: Non-Sexual Body Part: Someone attempted to kiss, lick or bite but did not come into contact with any non-sexual body part (hand, leg, thigh) of the user, and the user perceived the attempt to be sexual. | No |
| Non-Consensual Touching: Non-Sexual Body Part: Without explicit consent from the user, someone touched or forced a touch on any non-sexual body part (hand, leg, thigh) of the user. | No |
| Attempted Touching: Sexual Body Part: Someone attempted to touch, but did not come into contact with, any sexual body part (breast, genitalia) of the user, and the user perceived the attempt to be sexual | No |
| Attempted Kissing: Sexual Body Part: Someone attempted to kiss, lick or bite but did not come into contact with the breast(s) or buttock(s) of the user, and the user perceived the attempt to be sexual. | No |
| Non-Consensual Kissing: Non-Sexual Body Part: Without consent from the user, someone kissed, licked or bit or forced a kiss, lick or bite on any non-sexual body part (hand, leg, thigh) of the user. | Yes |
| Non-Consensual Touching: Sexual Body Part: Without explicit consent from the user, someone touched or forced a touch on any sexual body part (breast, genitalia, mouth, buttocks) of the user. | Yes |
| Non-Consensual Kissing: Sexual Body Part: Without consent from the user, someone kissed or forced a kiss on either the breast or buttocks of the user. This would include kissing on the lips or kissing while using tongue. | Yes |
| Attempted Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration: Without explicit consent from a user, someone attempted to penetrate the vagina or anus of a user with any body part or object. Any attempted removal of another person’s clothing to attempt to access a sexual body part will be classified as ‘Attempted Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration.’ This also includes attempted penetration of the user’s mouth with a sexual organ or sexual body part; however, it excludes kissing with tongue or attempts to kiss with tongue. | Yes |
| Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration: Without explicit consent from a user, someone penetrated, no matter how slight, the vagina or anus of a user with any body part or object. This includes penetration of the user’s mouth with a sexual organ or sexual body part. This excludes kissing with tongue. | Yes |
An example of an incident Lyft would not disclose is a driver kidnapping a passenger, masturbating, threatening them and grabbing their thigh.
Lyft Reported Rate on Incident
Lyft calculated a rate of incident for each of the 5 of 21 categories disclosed in their report, using combined 2017-2019 data. Lyft’s report does not appear to show any drop in the rate of sexual misconduct and sexual assault in 2019 vs 2018, so they instead compare 2019 to 2017.
Lyft treated the date of reporting as the date of incident, meaning a sexual assault in 2019 reported in 2020 is not included in the report. Lyft released a figure that divides the number of reports in 5 of the 21 categories that occurred during a calendar year, regardless of the date of the incident, against the number of rides that year.
It is unclear what this is supposed to show, given Lyft is a growing company and many incidents reported likely occurred in prior years, when the number of rides was smaller, and given most categories were ignored and not disclosed in the report. Lyft also calculated the individual rate of occurrence for each of the categories individually, instead of an aggerate rate of misconduct or assault.
Lyft Sexual Assault Lawyers
Levin Simes Abrams represents hundreds of rideshare survivors of sexual assault and harassment. If you or a loved one was harassed or assaulted during an Uber or Lyft ride and want a private discussion with an attorney, please call or text our rideshare lawyers at 415-426-3000, or email [email protected] We can set up a private time to talk and discuss the case.
