Rosy and Pink Cars Fundraiser
After Glasgow City Council refused to support the female only taxi service Rosy and Pink Cars, it has launched a crowdfunding page in a bid get the company off the ground.
Individual councillors branded the service as sexist against men at the Licensing Committee.
Rosy and Pink Cars is an app based service in Glasgow which is looking to launch if they reach their target amount of £5000.
Founder Mandy Welsh is calling for the public to donate to help get her start up off the ground.
Ms Welsh has already invested £4000 of her own savings to fund lease cars and employ drivers.
The money raised will cover licensing bills and other start up fees such as advertising and rental costs.
It is also a requirement of the legislation to have an office within the area they wish to operate in to enable the business to apply for the booking office license.
The taxi service is being founded to ensure women are safe when travelling and it also gives them the option of selecting a female driver.
Ms Welsh said: “There has been a rise in sexual assaults on females by male drivers in Scotland and the U.K and this needs to be stopped.
“I don’t think Glasgow city council treated my application fairly and I believe I was discriminated against because I’m a women.
“I think by Glasgow City Council rejecting my application confirms that women still have a long way to go with regards to equality and equal rights.
“It is unfair to be told by men that women are safe at all times and there is no need for this app, when report after report shows females being assaulting by male drivers, not females being assaulted by female drivers, the criminals are men.”
On her crowdfunding page Ms Welsh said: “Glasgow City Council claimed this app was sexist and discriminated against men.”
A council spokesman responded to this saying: “It’s not correct to say the council called the app sexist. Individual councillors made comments about sexism at the Licensing Committee, which is not the same.
“The committee questioned why male children could only use the service up to the age of 11. They also said driver conditions mean no passengers should be refused a journey, apart from in certain circumstances such as when they’re too drunk.
Ms Welsh defended this decision: “There had to be a cut-off point, I’ve got a son and when they get to high school age they can be boisterous. It was for the safety of drivers.”
“So, according to the system the applicant created, a mother couldn’t take a 15-year-old son into a taxi even though she’d still have legal responsibility for him. But if she had her 11-year-old son with her, he could get in the taxi, but the 15-year-old would be walking home.
“As above, councillors had reasonable concerns about the app and the applicant was unable to address those concerns satisfactorily. That is why it was refused.
Training development worker Susan Jack from Glasgow Women’s Aid said: “Women are vulnerable when they’re out on their own.
“We’ve dealt with women who have been dreadfully attacked by male taxi drivers so if this service makes women feel safer then we are backing it 100%.
“It’s really unfortunate that it has come to this, that they now have to fundraise to start up, it is an undeniable reality that women are more vulnerable than men.”
Initially the taxi service will be available from 7am to 11pm until it is fully established when it will operate on a 24 hour basis.
Ms Welsh hopes to have Rosy and Pink Cars up and running by Christmas and is currently applying to other council areas in Scotland.
