I ordered a taxi at 10 PM. I left a place that had no vehicle access. The taxi driver missed the turn and demanded that I came to him on foot. He reacted negatively to my refusal, but drove to the required place. Further dialogue: «Are you Kyrgyz?» - «Yes.» - «You know the traditions?» - «Some of them.» - «There is a white scarf in the trunk, put it on, I am stealing you.» - «WHAT?»

Silence. I panicked. I wanted to jump out of the car, we were driving along some small lane, and there was not a soul around. «I was joking.»

I kept silence the rest of the ride. I paid the necessary amount and received indignation, «Why so little? I have been driving for so long!» On leaving, I criticized his joke and slammed the door. The taxi driver started shouting threats. I was disgusted and scared. I complained to the taxi service and received their apologies. However, the fear remained. A year has passed since that incident, and I started using taxis only recently, and only if necessary.

I was young enough. I am from the region, at that time I was either in the first year of the university studies, or in the second. I went from my hometown to Bishkek. I was sitting in the back seat with my sister-in-law and a man of about 40. I was between them. We drove at night and he touched my legs and hips. I was terribly scared, but I was afraid to tell about it. I just asked my sister-in-law to change places with me. She noticed something was wrong and changed her place. Then, I did not attach any importance, but now, I very often remember this incident and shiver. Because of this, I hate to ride with strangers in taxis.

It seems to me that I was scared then and did not understand that this was abnormal. Now, it affects my emotional state. I always avoid any contact with men, even with those I know. Now, I already understand that this should not be allowed and I am no longer afraid to speak out and to fight such assholes.

He began asking questions. I said that I did not want to talk, but the questions followed one another. He asked where I studied, how old I was, where I lived, if I had a boyfriend, if I wanted to get married. The driver often turned around to look at my face, which made me very uncomfortable.

It seemed that he did not hear me. After all, I made it clear that I did not intend to answer, but was ignored. I felt tired and angry. I am an introvert and this situation made me very uncomfortable. I do not think that I can take a taxi safely now. I try not to stay late anywhere so that I do not have to order a taxi.

On July 15, after going out with my sister, I ordered a taxi. I had few drinks. The driver arrived being drunk or stoned, I do not even know, but in order not to risk and not to be caught, I offered him to drive closer to my house and have a drink. He took me to another place while I thought that we were near my house. I bought us drinks, we talked, but then, he began harassing me. I resisted, asked him to stop, tried to reason him hoping that he would change his mind, but this did not happen. I was raped.

I still have severe post-traumatic stress disorder that worsened my clinical depression. I tried to kill myself twice. The last time was in September, when the police came to my house and almost forcibly took me to the interrogation, where I had to sit near that man and, as my investigator said, to "prove" his guilt.

I took a taxi in Bishkek, and sat on the seat behind the driver. We were riding slowly, everyone started chatting, and we got to know each other. The driver said he was married and had three children, well, I thought it was good that he had a family. Besides me, there were three adult women with children in the car. It was summer; the ride was long. I wore sneakers and took them off; my socks were short. When we talked, I said that I had two children and was expecting another. It was getting dark; I watched a movie and suddenly felt his hand on my leg. Of course, I was frightened and looked at the driver, and he said, «Let us go to the movies tonight». I said nothing, took my legs away, and thought that maybe he did not mean it, but it made me very uncomfortable, because the legs are very intimate part of the body, and nobody should touch them except my husband.

The ride continued. We almost arrived; he was already taking everyone home. I was not familiar with Osh; I told him the address of the reserved hotel and waited for my turn to leave. Saying that I would stay in the hotel, I was very scared that he might think bad things about me. He took the remaining passenger home and grabbed my legs again. I hid my legs and asked why he was doing it. He replied, «You are beautiful, I am just flirting». I was scared that I would not reach my destination; I was alone in a car. He could not find the address, probably, 10 minutes passed, but these 10 minutes seemed like an eternity for me. I thought what I would do: the street was empty, no one was there, and all sorts of thoughts came across my mind. I tried to calm down, but could not. We were searching the hotel I was supposed to get to, and I called the administrator. It turned out, that the driver went the other way. He became angry and increased the speed. I told him I would pay an additional cost if he slows down, but it made him even angrier. Finally, we arrived at the destination. Perhaps, it might seem like nothing as awful as I imagined happened, but I was scared that I would not reach my destination. Hope that this story remains anonymous.

I ordered a Yandex.Taxi. The driver had a beard and wore skullcap. Fortunately, the driver did not touch me and there was no physical harassment. Initially, he asked if I was a healthcare worker because I was beautiful and very nice. I politely replied that I was not. While driving, he annoyed me with questions about my private life, whether I was married, where I was from. For safety reasons, I replied that I was married for a long time, although I am not married. Then he said, «It is a pity, you are beautiful and I wanted to offer you to become my second wife». Then, he started asking where I worked, why I worked there, I did not answer. He began imposing his religious views, saying that polygamy is a normal practice, and that girls need to behave in a certain way, etc. I kept silence in order to avoid argument and to get to the destination. I made it clear that I was not interested in answering his questions. I asked him to stop 200 meters before the place where I was going. After this incident, I am afraid for my safety, since this man drove me from home to work. I addressed the taxi service, they answered that they would talk to him. It is so awful to use taxi services, when you prepare yourself for inappropriate questions, are afraid to even say something and ride in silence just to get to the right destination :(

This happened to my friend. She was late for a meeting and decided to order a taxi. The taxi driver was an Asian-looking man in his fifties. In the middle of the ride, the driver began asking my friend about her private life: if she was single and why. The friend did not expect to be tricked and honestly answered that she was not dating anyone. She thought that he had a purely «fatherly» interest in this. After her answer, he began attracting my friend's attention; it came to the point when he offered her to take a ride to the Panorama to have fun. She had to endure these nasty comments until she arrived at the meeting location. However, even after leaving, he tried to get closer by calling her all day.

There were five men in the car. I was sitting next to some guy. At night, when I was sleeping, it seemed to me that someone was touching my knee. At first, I thought it was just my imagination. However, later, I realized that it was he. It was cramped and dark. I told him to stop, but quietly. It repeated over and over again. I told him to stop in a loud and rough voice. Other men, probably, heard it, but said nothing. He stopped. When we got out of the taxi to catch a breath of fresh air, he said, «Sorry, I was just having troubled sleep».

I felt helpless and used, even dirty. I regretted that I did not yell at him at the very beginning and did not tell the taxi driver, because then, I was saying the very word «stop» politely, considering my inner fear. In fact, I am still not sure what exactly should a woman do in such situations. Definitely, she should not keep silence.

It was summer. I worked as a waitress and had late shifts. At 12 AM, I called a taxi service, but since I did not have money on the phone's balance, I asked a colleague to call. The taxi driver sent SMS. I went outside to the car alone; no one accompanied me. Since I never experienced such a situation before, I was not afraid. I sat in the front seat next to the driver. I heard about such cases before, but I thought this would never happen to me. I got into the car and we drove off. The driver was middle-aged. As soon as we left, he started asking me about my name, age, with whom I lived, and so on. I was tired, so I did not encourage the conversation. Therefore, he talked mainly about himself. He told me his name, said that he was married, and that he was a decent man, but this conversation began to take a sexual connotation. He started asking if I was romantic, if I had a relationship before, and would I like to try something new. At the same time, he constantly repeated that he was a decent man, but got tired and would like to forget himself for one day and would not mind spending it with a girl like me. All this time we were driving on the road. Obviously, he liked this idea very much because he turned off the main road and suddenly changed the route. I got scared and tried to say in a calm voice that my family was waiting for me at home and I had already warned everyone about my arrival. He replied that it was okay and we would quickly finish our business. I did not have any money on the phone's balance. I could not even call anyone. A few minutes later, he drove to some place where there were only trees around. There were no cars, no houses, nothing. He stopped the car. Turning to me, he said that we would just have a little romance. Then, he got out of the car and looked around. He called me. I was on the verge of a panic attack. After waiting for couple of minutes outside, he got angry because I did not come out. He kept calling me and wanted to watch the stars with me. Then, he went to the car, opened the door from my side, and gave me his hand. I did not react. My voice trembled and tears came even though I tried not to cry. He leaned over me and unbuckled the seatbelt. He wanted to pull me out of the car by force. I hardly remember that moment, but for a short period, we fought. I managed to push him away. I saw anger in his eyes. At that moment, for some reason, he got very angry and after a little thought got back into the car. I remember nothing more. We went back to the road. I asked to stop, and got out of the car. He left immediately. I went home on foot. I do not remember how I got home. My clothes were torn, and the hair was messy. When I reached the house, I had a mental breakdown. Then, I lived with a friend. The next morning, I quit my job and never worked as a waitress again. I never took a taxi alone again. I had a depressive disorder for several months. I did not tell about this to my parents, only to a friend with whom I lived. I wanted to address the police, but my friend, who had a similar situation, was ignored there, because, as she was told, there was no act of violence. Now, only two years later, I can talk about this in detail. I am afraid to imagine what happens to those girls who were raped.

I caught a taxi after a party at night, I felt upset at that time. The driver smelled alcohol from me and decided that he could behave more carelessly. When he brought me to the house, he turned off the fare register and abruptly drove to another direction, parked two blocks from my house, blocked the doors, threw back the driver's seat and began to «get to know me closer». He kept me in the car for several hours, told me which girls he liked and which ones he did not. Only after much persuasion, he took me home. He saved my number, because the program of the taxi service registered it. He began to text me in messengers that he missed me and already wanted to see me again. I addressed the taxi administration, sent screenshots of these messages, described the situation, and they advised me to contact the police, because they did not know what to do. I thought about what I should say if I address the police. We have no definition of harassment in the legislation; they would rather call this person a romantic one. Even if they arrest him, they would just talk to him about his behaviour, and register the case. Still, he has the address of my place of residence, phone number and a reason for stalking me.

I ordered a taxi to go home after clubbing. I was drunk. The taxi driver was polite and drove me home. However, when we almost came there, he began saying that I was pretty and we should drive further. I said that my father was waiting for me and pretended to call him. He drove up to the house, but blocked the doors and began persuading me, saying that I have nothing to lose, that I was probably already «skilled» (*quote*), and that he was a normal man. He tried to touch my legs as if by accident, despite the fact that I sat in the back seat and it was quite difficult for him to reach me. First, I thought that he was not serious and tried to say calmly and politely that I had to go. He did not listen to me. Behind the blocked doors, we spent several minutes in the car, after which, he began turning around, saying we were driving to another place. At that moment, I panicked and began getting out of the car more actively. I said that my father would come out now, would see that I was still in the car and fight the driver. He turned and stopped. I said that I did not want to create problems and call my father; I told him that I would better come into the house myself, take the money and go out. He agreed, unblocked the doors, I got out and went home. Then, I lived alone in a separate house, that is, he saw exactly which gate I entered and I was terribly afraid that if I did not pay for the taxi, he would enter the house and see that I was living alone. Then, I pulled myself together, took the money, he saw that the gate had opened slightly and drove up, I slipped the money through the half-open car's window, closed the gate and ran into the house hoping that he would leave. He left. Two days later, he found me on social media, subscribed everywhere and texted me, «Hello, how are you? When will we meet?» I ignored it; it lasted a couple of weeks, and then he stopped it.

The crazy wild fear, pain, helplessness, loneliness. I did not want to leave the house, much less I wanted take a taxi alone. I did not know what to do, I did not tell anyone, because I was afraid that I would be blamed. I still think that I would be blamed; I just do not care anymore. It affected me. I still sit only in the back seat in a taxi, right behind the driver. In some cars, I try to hold a button that can unblock my door with my fingers (I know that this is ineffective, but I do it anyways). The choice of a taxi is also mandatory: this should be a taxi service, which registers the information about the drivers and cars. These services are more expensive, but I feel at least a little safe. I send the information about the drivers, cars and my route to my partner or friend. Since this incident was not the last, I still try not to go home alone after dark, and even more so when drunk. I still remember his name. I still stumble across his social media accounts.

We lived in an apartment located behind the Bishkek Park shopping mall temporarily; taxis did not come there at rush hour. I decided to catch a taxi near Bishkek Park, where they wait for the customers. It was 8 PM; I had to get to the Central Department Store where my friend waited for me. The driver drove slowly at first, but when we arrived and I paid, the driver blocked the doors. I got scared. Fortunately, I was sitting in the back seat, and my friend called at that time. I told her that I came and the car was red. The driver began asking for my phone number and offering to meet again. I said that I was married. His tone of voice changed dramatically, he said, «Married and walking around alone? I do not believe you!» I was shocked. My friend found the car and started to open the door (knocking on it), and I ran out. I feel so bad that I caught a taxi from the street.

I left the friend's place and got into a taxi. We talked about some stuff, and when we arrived, I said that I had to go to take the money, because I did not have cash with me. He turned around, put his hand on my knee and said, «Dear, maybe we can make a deal, let us drive away for a little while!» I was very scared, but did not show it. I said that I wanted to go to take the money and come back. I jumped out of the car, he ran after me. I managed to run into the entrance of the house. I did not dare to go back.

I was 27 then, now I am 28. I was late for work, and had to call «reliable» Yandex.Taxi. The driver was a neat and rather intelligent man who graduated from Ala-Too University. We talked about education, the importance of learning languages. The conversation seemed to be neutral. The ride was short, so was the conversation. In the evening, I started receiving messages from this taxi driver. I said that I had a boyfriend, but this did not stop him from persistently texting and sending pornographic photos. I feared that he might track me down, since he knew where I lived. It affected me. I do not talk to taxi drivers at all; I put headphones on and pretend to listen to music.

I was at a friend's birthday party in a bar and drank a lot. This happens rarely, but I drank too many shots in a row that evening. Apparently, I started to zone out. One of my friends called an Uber and put me in a car alone. Apparently, the driver saw that I was not feeling well; I did not see where we were going, although that place was 10 minutes from home. At some moment, I looked out the windows of the car and realized that we turned somewhere, to some outskirts, where there were no people around. He stopped and asked me to get out so that I could vomit outside and not stain his car. At that moment, he started touching my hips from behind, and so on. He put me back on the back seat of the car and sat down next to me, touching my legs. I was very scared, I was preparing for the worst outcome, but I somehow pulled myself together, and in a rather harsh tone screamed, «Take me home!» I understand that I was just lucky, but he was somehow scared, sat to the driver's seat and took me home. On the way, he began telling me that it was me who touched him and wanted him. Then, he asked for money, I do not remember how much, but much more than a standard taxi ride cost, and, it seems to me, the ride could be paid for with a card. I had no cash. I could just get out and run away, of course, but I was afraid. I went to the ATM and gave him cash.

I returned home and fell asleep quickly. In the morning, I woke up realizing that I was very, very lucky to have avoided rape. At the same time, of course, it felt disgusting. I was ashamed of myself that I drank and, in fact, this became the reason for such a risk. On the other hand, I was angry with my friends that they sent me home in a taxi alone, although they saw that I was zoning out. Fortunately, I realized that no condition or clothing of yours justifies the rapist, and it should not be a mitigating factor. It helped me to cope with shame.

Early in the morning (7 AM), I caught a taxi to go to my ex-boyfriend's apartment to pick up my belongings. The phone was out of charge. The taxi had a Yandex.Taxi sticker on it.

We drove almost through the whole city. I went up the stairs, knocked on the door, but apparently, no one was at home and I went back. On the way back, I fell asleep. I woke up because car stopped, the taxi driver, big fat man, began to wake me up, opening my door. We were not somewhere in the city, but somewhere out of town. He woke me up and told me that he wanted me and that it was important for him that I was conscious. I was very frightened, started screaming that I had memorized the license plate numbers of the car, that I would report him and immediately go to the police; I shouted that if he wanted to be a free man, he had to take me to the city immediately.

Apparently, it affected him, and he took me home. All the way back, he apologized to me, and I cried. I remembered the license plate numbers poorly, so when we arrived in the city, I ran out, literally ran away. Since then, I have not taken a taxi unless I ordered it. It took me a while to cope with it; it was not without working with a psychologist.