Women’s taxi in Finland: how a Ukrainian refugee creates her own transportation service
The search for new opportunities for living and working abroad for Ukrainian refugees has turned into a long process of adaptation, in which one has to combine the personal experience of forced relocation with the desire to find one’s own place in a new environment. The experience of forced relocation means the need to adapt to a new language, legislation and social environment, as well as finding opportunities to realize themselves professionally in another country. In this process, some refugees choose the path of entrepreneurship, trying to offer services that meet the real needs of the local society and at the same time rely on their own experience.
A Ukrainian woman opens her own business in Finland
In Finland, Ukrainian entrepreneur Viktoriya Shevchenko is developing a women’s taxi service called Naistaxi, designed to provide safe trips for women. The idea of creating a separate service arose from personal experience and stories of other women about discomfort when using traditional transportation services.
Speaking about the prerequisites for creating the service, Viktoriya Shevchenko noted that even in Ukraine she did not always feel comfortable getting into a car with an unfamiliar driver, and the final impetus was the story of an acquaintance who shared a negative experience of the trip. It was this conversation that made the entrepreneur think about the fact that the feeling of danger or tension during a regular trip is not an isolated case, but may be a common phenomenon.
In an effort to verify her own observations, she conducted a survey among dozens of women, and many of them admitted that they felt fear or anxiety when using a taxi. The collected responses convinced her of the feasibility of creating a service that would operate on the principle of “women for women”, where both drivers and passengers would be women.
Service development and legal advice
Work on Naistaxi began in August 2025, and within two months it was possible to form a team of developers and designers who are working on creating a mobile application. This pace of preparation indicates a systematic approach to implementing the idea, because it is not only about the concept, but also about the technical implementation of a service capable of functioning in a competitive environment.
During the preparation for the launch, Shevchenko consulted with an expert on gender equality legislation to ensure the legality of the chosen model. According to the expert, gender-oriented security services are allowed if their goal is to protect vulnerable groups, and statistics show that women are more likely to be at risk. Thus, the project is positioned as a service aimed at increasing the level of security, and not as a restriction based on gender.
Development plans and interest of female drivers
The entrepreneur’s plans are to expand the network throughout the Helsinki agglomeration, which involves gradually attracting new female drivers and scaling up the service. Potential drivers looking for stable work are already showing interest in the project, which indicates demand not only from passengers, but also from those who are ready to work in a new format.
Viktoria Shevchenko’s initiative demonstrates how Ukrainian refugees abroad are trying to integrate into a new environment, combining their own experience with the needs of the local market, and at the same time forming a space in which issues of safety and trust become key conditions for everyday services.
