Relaunched Didi Hitch accused of sexism over different gender curfew hours

China’s biggest ride-hailing company was accused of sexism on Thursday when the trial relaunch of its troubled Didi Hitch service included an 8 pm curfew for female users – but 11 pm for men.

Explaining the decision, Didi Chuxing said that through investigation they found that the number of sexual assault complaints was comparatively low in the 5 am-8 pm window.

Didi Hitch will be available to men 5 am to 11 pm and women 5 am to 8 pm, according to Didi Chuxing’s official website on Wednesday.

Didi Hitch is a lower-cost service that links drivers and passengers heading in the same direction. Didi’s regular car hailing service remains available to all, all the time. In August 2018 Didi Chuxing suspended its Hitch service following two separate murders of female passengers by Didi drivers.

The new rules for Didi Hitch triggered criticism on China’s social media, with many calling the rules sexist.

“This isn’t fair to female passengers who work a night shift and need a ride after 8 pm,” one Net user commented in a post that received 120 thumbs up. Others posted that women should be respected, not restricted.

Some users suggested that instead of a curfew on women, the company should arrange for female drivers to pick up female passengers after 8 pm.

Others noted that one of the murders last year occurred at 1:30 pm.

Some Net users backed Didi, saying that the company was only trying to protect its female passengers.

Didi responded on Wednesday to say the company appreciated the advice and criticism.

“Didi is also piloting a women’s safety program with Hitch,” the company said.

Key features of the program would include enhanced risk analysis, alerts and intervention models that identify high-risk scenarios and trip anomalies with effective intervention, according to Didi.

The program includes “a new in-app Safety Assistant that shows more detailed information on drivers and passengers, and offers real-time support from safety specialists.”

Didi stressed that the current rules are for trial operation, and the official launch of Hitch will be improved based on customer feedback.

The trial relaunch of Hitch will be conducted in seven major Chinese cities: Beijing, Harbin of Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Taiyuan of North China’s Shanxi Province, Shijiazhuang in North China’s Hebei Province, Shenyang in Northeast China’s Liaoning Province and Changzhou and Nantong in East China’s Jiangsu Province.