‘Sluts, you’ve all turned up here’: a Russian-speaking female taxi driver in Milan insulted Ukrainian women
An unfortunate incident stemming from linguistic animosity took place in Milan. Two Ukrainian women claimed they were subjected to verbal abuse by a Russian-speaking taxi driver after their journey had ended. The incident was reported by the Instagram channel Kyivbreaking, which also published a video of the altercation. According to the women who filmed the video, they did not speak to the driver at any point during the journey, but only spoke to each other in Ukrainian.
At the end of the journey, one of the passengers thanked the driver by saying ‘Thank you’. It was immediately after this, the Ukrainian women claim, that the driver began to speak aggressively, using foul language and offensive gestures. “Throughout the entire journey, nobody spoke to the driver, Tetyana; we spoke to each other in Ukrainian. At the end of the journey, as we were getting out of the car, my friend said ‘thank you’, to which we received a response consisting of insults, swear words and gestures. The video shows only a fragment that I managed to film. Before that, there were a great many offensive words and gestures. We were in shock,” said the authors of the video. In the published recording, the driver can be heard shouting offensive remarks at the Ukrainian women, including: “You’re driving me mad, Ukrainian women,” and “Sluts, you’ve all turned up here.” There is currently no information as to whether the victims have lodged a complaint with the police or the taxi service.
UA Service Hub reminds readers that in Italy, as in other EU countries, insults, discrimination or harassment on the grounds of nationality may constitute grounds for reporting the matter to the police or the service provider’s management if the incident occurred whilst the service was being provided. If you have been the victim of such behaviour, it is important to preserve evidence (videos, photos, journey details) and report the incident to the relevant authorities.
