Don't lock me in

A few months ago, I had to go to the hospital with my niece. Because we had no transport, we had to go in an ambulance. I remained in A&E with her until she was transferred up to a ward - at which point, I was told that I couldn't stay any longer.

By now, it was 5am and I had no money on me and at least an hour to wait for the first buses of the day to take to the road. The only things that I'd managed to grab were a phone and my cigarettes.

Obviously, there aren't going to be many family and friends up at that time in a morning - and those who are are either at work or going to work. So I did the only thing that I could. I called my husband and asked him what I should do to get home. He told me to call a taxi and he would pay the fare once I got home.



I went back into the hospital and called for a taxi using the phone provided. When the taxi arrived, my heart was in my shoes when I saw that it was a guy. As soon as I got into the cab, he wanted £10 before he'd pull away from the curb. Of course, I didn't have it to give to him. I managed to convince him to take me home though and avoided conversation with him for the most part.

Upon nearing home, the driver locked the doors to prevent me from running without paying the fare. I guess that is understandable - it must be a common problem for taxi drivers. The problem for me is that I don't trust men, II don't trust men who I don't know and I don't like being confined without my knowledge and consent.

Being locked in the taxi that morning was a very triggering experience for me, not only as a woman travelling by herself, but as a rape survivor. I have to admit that I really had to fight the desire to revert back to the unhealthy coping mechanisms that I turned to after my rape - all for the sake of £13?

It wasn't much of a fare - and the taxi driver was much taller and fitter than I was!  The point that I'm trying to make here is that in locking people in who have survived rape takes away their ability to feel safe and the feeling that they have a choice about being where they are. If I hadn't had other people present that day, I would have ended up back in hospital - which wasn't really worth it for the amount of the fare. It would be great if taxi drivers would use some common sense before locking the doors.