Updated Wednesday, February 14, 2024-00:30
The viral video of a passenger masturbating inside a Barcelona taxi, before the incredulous gaze of the driver - who
did not hesitate to immediately expel him
- has been the final straw for many professionals in this sector. They allege that those images were recorded because the vehicle had a camera inside. And they ask for subsidies to install them, taking into account
"safety reasons"
, in taxis in the Community of Madrid.
Of the 20,000 drivers who operate in the capital, it is estimated that
around 900 are women
. And there are many who have faced, they tell this newspaper,
"attempts to flirt"
by clients. Some take it with humor; Others feel really uncomfortable. But almost all of them agree that the use of cameras
would have a deterrent effect
against "possible misdeeds."
One of these driving professionals is Martha Flores, 36, who begins by warning that, thanks to her "strong character," she has stopped more than one person. "They give you hints and
try to flirt with you
... Sometimes they have told me 'don't stop the taxi and
we'll have a drink or a coffee'
. It makes me feel uncomfortable, but I'm polite and tell them that my boss is watching me and that "I can't. Once, in La Moraleja, they offered me 'to take a break' and
go up to their house
. But I always stop them."
Flores currently gets passengers thanks to the FreeNow platform, something that "gives him security" since, in addition to having the user's data, he knows in advance the origin and destination of the journey. "
Before, I did encounter drunk people
, since on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays I see the dawn at the wheel. Some told you that they were going to vomit so that,
when you stopped the car, they would run away and not pay
. But I haven't seen that in a long time." , evokes this driver, and then opens the melon of machismo: "Many times they make reservations and
when they see a woman arrive they cancel
the trip... Sometimes just a few meters away from them. Recently, instead of getting on they told me with the hand 'goodbye'".
Martha Flores, inside her vehicle.J. BARBANCHO
As can be seen from the
IV Observatory of Women Taxi Drivers
, prepared by FreeNow,
six out of 10 female taxi drivers
claim to have experienced harassment while working. It is also found that 66% of these professionals declare that at some point
they have avoided taking a man or group of men "out of fear"
and another 68% consider night services dangerous.
Furthermore, 76% of female drivers affirm that at some point they have felt discriminated against for being a female taxi driver, mainly
due to sexist humor (65%), sexual comments (50%)
, humiliating treatment (40%), inappropriate approach (40%) or uncomfortable non-verbal language (40%). In these situations, almost half
do not report it
because they believe it is difficult to prove (48%) and the same percentage believes that it is of no use.
For Javier Fernández, president of the Elite Taxi Madrid association, the level of danger that the capital exudes
"is not as much as in Barcelona"
, but "the night here is also complicated." "There are conflictive areas, so anything that involves having protection in the vehicle is very important. Just by indicating on the window that
the vehicle has video surveillance, it is already a deterrent
."
And it puts on the table
three key elements
that would offer "more security and confidence" to drivers: a light signal on the roof, next to the light that indicates if the taxi is free, to alert of a dangerous situation;
an emergency button to directly notify the Police
; and the aforementioned cameras.
There are companies, he points out, that thanks to European funds carry out the installation of these protection systems at almost zero cost for the taxi driver, but he would not have access to the images, which would be managed by a security company. For this reason, Fernández advocates for
an independent system, where the driver controls his cameras
: "We depend on the City Council and the Community of Madrid, we hope that one of them, or between the two,
will grant a series of subsidies
for the installation of these devices ".
Mónica Crisan, another taxi driver who has been traveling the streets of the capital for five years, puts everything close to danger in perspective, pointing out that
"Madrid is not what it was 25 years ago
. "
"Before, all taxi drivers had thick partitions, and they did not allow people to sit in the passenger seat. Nowadays it is a much safer city, there are tourists who are surprised by
the number of police cars
they see on the street."
"I have colleagues who say they don't work at night, but
I've never had bad experiences
. The most important thing is that they don't vomit on you in the car, because while the smell is eliminated you'll be out of work for two or three days. But I've never had problems , perhaps a slight feeling of fear that they will give you a
sinpa
(running away to avoid paying for the race), but it has only happened to me once and it was no more than seven euros," Crisan recalls.
And he remembers how he takes it with humor when, at 51 years old, he receives some suggestion to "go partying" with some young people, whom he rides in his vehicle. "I tell them
she could be your mother... Even your grandmother
," she smiles.
Representatives of this sector also say that they have an app that emulates a walkie-talkie with several channels: the main one is where they talk about their daily lives (if there are accidents or radars, streets closed, where there is more work...), but it also has a couple of safety frequencies. "When the person considers that they have a potential risk with the clients they carry, or has a slight suspicion, they use them by verbalizing
key words within a normal conversation.
In Madrid, the incidents that are most seen are
sinpa
,
they are not robberies or robberies as such".