By Lauren MacGillivray
Imagine walking home late at night. The buses have stopped running and the only light in sight is a pale moon hanging above the burnt-out street lamps.
If you’re a guy, you probably have nothing to worry about.
But if you’re a woman, walking home late at night can seem like an absurdly lifelike video game.
Unseen dangers seem to lurk in every shadow.
The slightest noise can send a shiver down your spine. You feel like a target.
And just when you think your heart is about to explode, salvation comes rolling around the corner. A taxicab.
On its roof, the glowing sign becomes a hopeful beacon. You squint to see who’s behind the wheel.
The only problem — the driver is likely a man.
Once inside, a taxi can seem almost as scary as a lonely street.
Sherry Zakeri should know. The 41-year-old mother of three is one of Ottawa’s few female taxicab drivers.
“So many ladies call me for a ride and they all say the same thing,” says Zakeri, who’s been working on the road for five years.
“Male drivers say terrible things to women.”
She says most of her female customers have stories about sexual harassment at the hands of male cabbies.
And that’s why some women choose to wait for a female driver. Zakeri says one of her customers gladly waited almost two hours for a ride.
She wouldn’t trust any male cab drivers, after one aggressively pressured her to go home with him.
But there’s only a small number of female taxi drivers to go around.
Blue Line Taxi Co. Ltd. boasts over 600 cars, but only three of these vehicles are driven by women.
And Zakeri is the only one who takes the 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift.
Ottawa’s other main cab company, Capital Taxi, has almost 300 cars and none are driven by women.
So what’s the solution?
A female-only taxicab company.
Women would feel much safer and more secure.
Mothers could even trust cab drivers to cart their kids around.
In fact, Zakeri is actually considering starting an all-female cab company.
So when the night leaks its blackened haze, the taxi turning the corner might not seem like an imposing stranger, but a friendly one.