Safety for women and non-binary gig workers

Sponsor policy: NO sponsor placement per Kiln safety policy.

What you are actually facing

The risks are different by platform, but the patterns repeat. Female and non-binary Uber drivers deal with sexual comments, passengers who refuse to leave the car, stalking after trips, requests for personal numbers, false complaints after rejecting a passenger, and fear around late-night pickups. In February 2025, IWGB drivers at Uber, Bolt and Addison Lee said safety demands included passenger ID verification, complaint tracking and better support for assault victims. That list exists because the platforms still have not fixed it after years of promises. IWGB has said Bolt still had not met safety demands three years after driver Gabriel Bringye was killed by a passenger in Tottenham in February 2021.

Deliveroo riders face harassment in public. Abuse from customers at the door, sexual comments in the street, restaurant staff behaving badly, intimidation around pickup spots. Deliveroo's rider support page has a harassment and discrimination route, so the issue is at least recognised inside the support system.

Amazon Flex is thinner. Public UK Flex harassment support is much harder to find than Uber or Deliveroo safety content. That does not mean the problem is smaller. It means you are more likely to be left piecing together help from police, general support services and legal advice, rather than having a clear app-based harassment route.

What the law says

The Worker Protection Act 2023, in force from October 2024, strengthened the duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, with tribunals able to increase compensation by up to 25% for breach. Equality Act 2010 protections on harassment apply. Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5 shows that platforms can be workers' employers for legal purposes despite contractual wording, which matters when you argue who owes you a duty of care.

IWGB v CAC [2023] UKSC 43 pulled the other way for Deliveroo on union recognition, so status fights remain messy. None of that removes your right to report a crime.

Three routes when something happens

Platform report. Use the in-app safety route first if you are safe to do so. Keep your own screenshots. Platform records are not under your control.

Police. 999 if you are in immediate danger or have just been assaulted. 101 for non-emergency reporting, including stalking, ongoing harassment and follow-up after the immediate risk has passed. If a platform reply is weak, a 101 or 999 trail matters later.

Specialist support. A platform complaint is not emotional support, legal advice or safeguarding. This is the step workers skip, and it is the step that matters most if the incident was serious.

Your safety plan

Write this down before you need it. High-risk times you will avoid or harden up on, for example late nights, airport jobs, isolated drop-offs. Hard rules, for example no sharing your personal number, doors locked until identity is clear, end the job if you feel unsafe. Emergency actions, 999 for immediate danger, trusted contact on speed dial, live location sharing if the app offers it. Evidence steps, screenshots, trip ID, name if shown, time, location, reg, witnesses. Report route, app first if safe, then police, then specialist support. Support contacts, one friend, one union contact, one specialist service, one local women's service.

When to get help

• Rights of Women legal advice line, rightsofwomen.org.uk, for harassment, violence and employment-related legal questions.
• The Survivors Trust national helpline 08088 010 818, for specialist sexual-violence support.
• Hestia 0808 2000 247 (national domestic abuse helpline partner in London and South East), named by Uber as a UK support partner.
• Woman's Trust 020 7034 0303, free counselling for women affected by abuse.
• Police 999 immediate danger, 101 non-emergency.
• IWGB and ADCU for union backing on safety campaigns and deactivation disputes that follow an incident.

Action steps

• Save emergency contacts and decide now what counts as a "leave immediately" situation. Do not invent rules mid-incident.
• If you are in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise, record the facts and report through 101 where appropriate as well as the app.
• Use the app's harassment route, but keep your own screenshots and notes.
• For sexual harassment, stalking, coercion or overlap with domestic abuse, contact a specialist service, not just the app.
• If you are in a union, tell them. IWGB and ADCU have pushed safety demands publicly.
• Keep a harassment log: date, trip or order ID, screenshots, witnesses, police reference.
• Never rely only on platform follow-up. It is not trauma support.

Related guides

• Deadnaming, hate crime reporting
• Full harassment evidence guide
• What the duty actually covers

Last reviewed

19 April 2026