Abstract
This analysis explores technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) through the voices and experiences of women ridesharing drivers in the United States. Dominant companies in the ridesharing industry have developed a taxonomy of sexual abuse for the safety reports that they issue to the public; however, these documents are limited in terms of their quantitative nature and the number/types of incidents that they publish. To understand the full nature of this problem, this project recruited participants using social media advertising to complete an online, anonymous survey related to their sexually violent experiences. Using qualitative content analysis methods with a deductive approach to study the 55 surveys of mostly women ridesharing drivers (53 women and 2 non-binary individuals) who described 150 cases of sexual abuse from primarily male passengers, this research placed their experiences in the pre-established taxonomy categories created by the major ridesharing companies, but also allowed other types of categories to emerge organically from the data. Results show instances of sexual misconduct most commonly, with the most prevalent categories from the taxonomy being explicit comments; soliciting sexual acts; and asking personal questions. With respect to sexual assault, the most common categories from the taxonomy were non-consensual touching of a non-sexual body part; attempted touching of a non-sexual body part; and non-consensual touching of a sexual body part. This analysis concludes by noting the limitations of these public safety reports and the importance of broadening the conceptualization of TFGBV to include the experiences of women drivers.