RightRides for Women's Safety is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that currently serves 45 neighborhoods throughout four boroughs in New York City. The mission of RightRides is to build safer communities by ending gender-based harassment and sexual assault. Their goal is to eradicate violence against girls, women, and LGBTQ individuals by mobilizing vulnerable communities through direct service and intervention, safety education, grassroots organizing, and policy advocacy.
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History
RightRides for Women's Safety developed its flagship free, late-night, safe car rides program (called RightRides) in 2004 as a community-based response after founders Oraia Reid and Consuelo Ruybal learned of increasing sexual assaults on women walking home by themselves late at night in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, two North Brooklyn neighborhoods. Outraged by the attacks in their community, Reid and Ruybal mobilized to combat the threat to women’s safety. Using their own car, the pair began offering cisgender and transgender women a free ride home on Saturday nights.
Initially, RightRides operated in just three neighborhoods—Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and the Lower East Side—but securing a vehicle sponsorship with Zipcar in 2006 enabled RightRides to expand the program significantly by enlisting community members to volunteer to operate the donated vehicles and implementing a dispatch system to coordinate the cars. RightRides now operates in 45 neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx every Friday and Saturday night from 11:59 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. transporting all female-identified and all LGBTQ people home safely.
RightRides motto is: "Because Getting Home Safely Shouldn't Be A Luxury." No payment is accepted in the car, not even tips. Nearly 40% of riders work late-night shifts, and 81% earning $35,000 or less per year. Riders represent the diversity of New Yorkers.
A volunteer driving team is composed of a Driver and a Navigator. One member of this team must identify as female for the comfort of the riders, and all volunteers must pass a criminal background check. Driving teams wait to make sure riders are safely inside their building before driving away. RightRides has safely ushered over 6,000 riders home, to date.
In 2009, RightRides co-founded New Yorkers for Safe Transit, the only coalition in New York City working to end gender-based discrimination, harassment and assault in the city’s mass transit system. This community organizing effort came as a result of teaming up with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to produce Hidden in Plain Sight: Sexual Harassment and Assault in the New York City Subway System, a report on the frequency of gender-based violence in the city’s mass transit system, which found that 63% of respondents reported having been sexually harassed and 10% sexually assaulted in the New York City Subway system. In 2009, Oraia Reid testified at a joint New York City Council hearing called by Committees on Women's Issues, Public Safety and Transportation to discuss subway safety. In 2010 Mandy Van Deven testified on behalf of RightRides at the first-ever New York City Council hearing on street harassment, called by Council Member Julissa Ferreras and covered by over 200 media outlets worldwide.
Awards and Recognition
For its grassroots efforts, RightRides has been honored with several awards, including a Proclamation from the New York City Mayor's Office announcing December 12, 2005 as "RightRides For Women's Safety Day," presented by New York City Human Rights Commissioner Patricia Gatling. In February 2006, RightRides received the Susan B. Anthony award for excellence in furthering women's equality by the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women. In March 2006, New York City Council Member Diana Reyna presented RightRides with the annual Pacesetter Award for capturing the spirit of New York City through their volunteer efforts. In 2007, Oraia Reid and Consuelo Ruybal were named New Yorkers of the Week by NY1 News. In 2010, Oraia Reid was named by Metro News as a NYC Local Hero and was also recognized by the National Association for Female Executives as a Woman of Excellence for her service to NYC.
RightRides has been covered by national and international news including the New York Times, Time Out New York, Ms. Magazine, FOX 5 Evening News, ABC 7 Evening News, Good Day New York, Salon.com, BUST Magazine, and WBAI - Pacifica Radio to name a select few.