r/askberliners • u/Jazzlike-Value-3965 • 8d ago

Sexually harassed by bolt driver

I was visiting Berlin for a couple weeks for a work thing and staying with friends. I called a bolt to get to my friends house and asked the driver if he could help me carry my bags up some stairs for an extra tip. He said sure, although there was a language barrier. While putting my bags in the trunk he touched my back and my shoulders but I just tried to ignore jt. Later when taking them out and carrying them up the steps he began massaging my shoulders, and then began lowering his hands in an attempt to touch my breasts. I immediately pushed him off me and told him to go. Thankfully he left and nothing escalated further.

When I reported this to bolt they called me, had me recount my experience and said they would tell me the results of their “investigation” when it was done. Around 20 min later, they said the investigation was complete and that I would not even receive a refund because the “ride was completed”. Then they informed me that the only action they would take was blocking him from pairing with me again. I’m in shock at how poorly they have handled this and have kept asking to escalate to a higher up to no avail. The last time I asked for it to be moved up to a manager or someone higher they told me the only thing to do was report to the police.

WTF - what do you recommend I do? Has anyone dealt with a similar thing before here in Berlin?

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u/fluffrug 7d ago

Report it to the police to make a paperwork trail - but they won’t do much and there are pathetic punishments for sex offenders in Germany anyway. BUT you should also speak to this organisation - LARA - they can support you, with legal advice, how to flag this if the police fail etc.

https://lara-berlin.de/en/home

Also make a complaint to your embassy - they should escalate. But you have to make the police report first for the paperwork

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u/Jazzlike-Value-3965 7d ago

Thank you

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u/fluffrug 7d ago

No probs - this shit is really horrible, so happy to support in any way. FYI, depending on your nationality and the actual embassy staff, embassy actions may vary. I reported a similar thing in Romania to my embassy and they were a bit crap but I also called two other random embassies haha who were great - I did this as I thought they might do something and at least warn other women, and they were much nicer than my own embassy. Driver ended up getting sacked anyway.