An NDG woman says she was sexually assaulted in a taxi last weekend, raising familiar concerns about Montreal’s taxi industry.
The 26-year-old woman told CJAD that after a night out with friends, she got into a cab parked at the corner of de la Montagne and St. Catherine Sts.
The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, says she grew concerned when the driver began commenting on her appearance, telling her she looked “sexy.”
“I got to my destination and he pulled over fairly quickly, and then, very very fast, it happened very quickly, he jumped over to the back and I was attacked and assaulted,” she said.
She explained the man grabbed her face and kissed her. She pushed him off, got out and ran, she said.
The taxi driver took off and she started to search for her phone, only to realize she’d left it in the cab, she recounted.
The next day, she went to report the incident to police and says the officers she met took her seriously, giving her a list of resources to consult if she felt she needed support.
One officer told her she was the third person to report a similar attack recently, she said.
Police said Thursday there have been 17 similar cases this year, including four recently in NDG and 29 last year.
They're saying these attacks are being perpetrated by possible taxi drivers because they don't know if the people implicated are licensed, official drivers.
A police spokesperson told CJAD women should only get into cabs they hail by phone, they shouldn't take taxis alone when under the influence, and that once they're aboard the cab, they should take a picture of the driver's badge with their cellphones and send it to a friend via text message.
Last month, the provincial government and the city of Montreal promised to take action after receiving a number of complaints from women who said they were sexually assaulted by taxi drivers.
There's a provincial law in place that says "no person may obtain, maintain, or renew a taxi driver's permit if the person has been convicted in the last five years of an indictable or criminal offence," but there is no province-wide standard for background checks in place so the law isn't being enforced.
The Montreal Taxi Bureau had said it was waiting for clear guidelines from the province about how to implement the checks and what specific offences would prevent someone from getting a permit.
At a news conference Thursday, Transport Minister Robert Poeti said creating the guidelines is a priority, and that they should be complete in a month.
