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Today, many men are courageously defending Ukraine on the front lines. Instead, women are taking on stereotypically “male” jobs. This is exactly what is happening now in the field of passenger transportation, in particular taxis, where women are becoming drivers of road transport. Bolt provides ride-hailing services and is one of those who helps women develop professionally in this field.

 

Every year, there are more and more female drivers on the roads. The BlaBlaCar service estimated that by 2023 they would make up about 17% of active drivers on the roads in general. In taxi services, the share of women is smaller, but it is growing. Bolt confirms this: currently, women make up about 3% of all drivers, but there is a tendency for these indicators to increase.

 

To this end, Bolt launched the Women for Women initiative. This is an innovative service that allows female passengers to book rides with female drivers in the app. Currently, this category operates in six cities in Ukraine: Lviv, Mukachevo, Odesa, Rivne, Uzhhorod, and Chernihiv. Bolt representatives say that this is a path to greater safety for women’s transportation, but also to broad economic opportunities for female drivers themselves.

 

“At Bolt, we recognize that real progress in gender equality requires both protecting women from violence and creating economic opportunities through which they can thrive. By implementing the Women’s Empowerment Principles in our operations, we are building a more inclusive mobility ecosystem in Ukraine. Our initiatives are not just about providing services — they are aimed at transforming the transportation sector into a space where women feel safe, valued, and have the opportunity to fully participate as passengers or drivers. Even during a war, we remain committed to removing barriers and creating pathways for women to advance in our industry,” says Yulia Malich, Bolt’s Head of Public Policy.

 

The company is also committed to comprehensively protecting women from violence. To this end, Bolt has partnered with the NGO La Strada — Ukraine, which works to combat gender-based violence. This partnership focuses on preventing violence in public spaces by developing and distributing information materials on this topic on digital platforms and in Bolt cars. The company also conducts specialized training programs for management and drivers on violence prevention.

 

As Serhiy Pavlyk, Head of Bolt in Ukraine, notes: “Despite the full-scale war, Ukraine still has many unresolved problems that cannot be ignored. We are confident that our joint initiatives with the NGO “La Strada — Ukraine” will contribute to the prevention of violence and the creation of a safer environment for all Bolt users. Together, we aim to take a step forward towards creating a safe and just society.”

 

According to Bolt representatives, this initiative demonstrates the company’s commitment to creating a culture of zero tolerance for violence and harassment in transportation services, which creates safer public spaces for everyone.

 

This material was created as part of the “Empowering Women in Business” initiative, which is implemented within the framework of the “Transformational Approaches to Achieving Gender Equality in Ukraine” project, which is implemented by UN Women with the financial support of the Government of Sweden in cooperation with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.