Promoting Safer Rides through Gender-Sensitive Communication: OSCE and inDrive Launch Pilot Training for Drivers in Almaty

For the first time in Kazakhstan, gender-sensitive communication training was delivered in partnership with a ride-hailing platform, which marks a meaningful step toward engaging local drivers in fostering safer and more respectful public spaces. On 19 June in Almaty, the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, in collaboration with the global ride-hailing company inDrive, launched a pilot training session for 48 local drivers, including 11 women and 37 men. This first of its kind gender-sensitive communication training event was delivered in partnership with a ride-hailing platform, which marks a meaningful step toward engaging local drivers in fostering safer and more respectful public spaces and promoting a zero tolerance approach to discrimination and harassment.

The interactive session focused on promoting respectful communication and appropriate conduct during rides, with a strong emphasis on the safety and dignity of all passengers, particularly women. In everyday settings like traffic jams or shared rides with strangers, women should feel safe, heard, and respected at all times. This sentiment was echoed by the Chairperson of the Committee on Youth and Family Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan, Kairat Kambarov, who highlighted that "After all, the profession of a taxi driver requires not only driving skills but also a high level of interpersonal conduct”.

Gender equality expert, scholar, and lecturer at Maqsut Narikbayev University of Kazakhstan, Aigerim Kussaiynkyzy, explained the different forms that harassment can take during a ride, including sexualized (e.g., commenting on a passenger’s body shape or interfering in their personal life), verbal, non-verbal (gaze, gestures, or facial expressions through the rear-view mirror), and physical actions.

With over 500,000 individuals working in Kazakhstan’s ride-hailing and delivery sector, this initiative not only contributes to the implementation of the Concept of Family and Gender Policy until 2030 and the OSCE Gender Action Plan 2004 but also helps build safer, more respectful everyday environments for women across the country.