An Aussie woman has been left ‘flabbergasted’ by an Uber driver who asked if they could have a threesome with her grandmother.
Samsara Sylvester, 20, secretly recorded the man as he bombarded her with a series of offensive questions, including: ‘Do you like sex?’
The student, who attends King’s College in London, had been visiting family in her hometown of Brisbane when she encountered the creepy driver.
In the footage, he asks Ms Sylvester if she has a boyfriend before moving on to more suggestive questions – telling the 20-year-old: ‘You tease me’.
Despite telling him she wasn’t interested, the driver – believed to be aged between 45 and 60 – suggested they have sex in her home.
‘I live with my grandmother, she’s staying with me at the moment,’ she tells him.
‘Your grandmother, you, and me,’ the driver repeats. ‘Your grandmother at home?’
Samsara Sylvester (pictured with her grandmother) secretly recorded the man as he bombarded her with a series of invasive and sexual questions including: ‘do you like sex?’
Shocked, Ms Sylvester forces laughter and tells the driver: ‘That’s a funny one’.
Once at her destination, the student raced out of the car as quickly as possible and complained to Uber, who offered her free therapy sessions.
An Uber spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the type of behaviour that Ms Sylvester has described is not tolerated at the company and that its team looks into this type of report ‘very thoroughly to make sure appropriate actions are being made’
‘Safety is a top priority and we are committed to ensuring we have robust processes and cutting edge features built into our technology to support the safety of everyone who uses our app,’ she said.
‘Our technology makes it possible to focus on safety for riders before, during, and after every trip in ways that simply were not possible before smartphones.
‘Through Uber’s Safety Toolkit, users can push a button to share their trip details with loved ones, receive support 24/7, share feedback on a trip and connect with emergency services.’
‘Everyone who signs up for an Uber account is expected to follow our Community Guidelines, which is developed to make every experience feel safe, respectful and positive. Breach of these guidelines can result in loss of access to the Uber app.’
Ms Sylvester posted the disturbing footage to social media to warn other women.
‘I don’t need therapy. There’s worse things that have happened to me,’ she said.
‘I want to clarify. I was wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, I had my hair up, didn’t have any makeup, and you could barely see my face.
‘You can’t just say that sexual assault happens because we’re dressed suggestively, it just happens because you are a female, and I think people need to accept that.’
Ms Sylvester revealed she had started sharing her location with people in case the driver tried to harm her and started recording after he became suggestive.
The student, who attends King’s College London, had been visiting family in her home town of Brisbane when she encountered the creepy Uber driver
Despite Ms Sylvester (pictured) saying she wasn’t interested, the driver – believed to be aged between 45 and 60 – suggested they have sex in her home
‘I was doing my best to kind of reply curtly and not enrage,’ she said.
‘I felt a little bit panicked by some of the things he said, like him asking who was at home or if he could come over.
‘I also planned for the possibility I’d have to get out of the car before I arrived home or what I’d do if he got out with me.’
She wrote about her experience in the ‘help section’ of the Uber app and was told someone would follow up and investigate.
‘I came forward in the interest of protecting other young women from this specific driver, and they couldn’t inform me of any action taken against him and stopped replying after a few emails back and forth,’ she said.
‘I think as a business that is responsible for their staff, they could’ve taken so much more initiative in doing something about this and maybe filtering people they hire because I’ve had multiple Uber drivers behave in a way that’s anything but professional.’
Ms Sylvester revealed she had relocated during her one-month stay in Brisbane over fears the driver would turn up at her door.
She encouraged women to use some ‘metaphoric war paint’ if they found themselves in a similar situation and to report instances of sexual harassment.
The driver asked Ms Sylvester (pictured) if she has a boyfriend before moving on to more suggestive questions, at one point telling the 20-year-old: ‘you tease me’
‘These instances only serve to highlight the abhorrent treatment women face from some men. I think it depicts the lack of respect for women they deem to be available,’ she said.
‘In the moment it made me feel like he thought I was easy and because I was a single female I was up for anything that came my way.’
Aussies flooded Ms Sylvester’s social media with supportive comments.
‘Being in someone else’s car is a very vulnerable place to be and not wanting to obviously stick up for yourself is an absolutely valid survival strategy,’ one said.
‘You handled this 100% perfectly. You survived,’ a second wrote.
‘This gave me so much anxiety. Something similar happened to me, it’s so scary cause you’re stuck in the car, no place to go,’ a third said.
