Taxi-hailing service Uber has planned to hire more female drivers, citing safety concerns. The San Francisco-based company announced Tuesday that Uber will create 1 million jobs for women within the next five years in a partnership with the United Nations. The alliance aims to recruit drivers not just in the United States, but around the world.

Uber has been criticized in the past for a number of driver assaults on passengers. Also, highly-publicized assaults on women passengers, including the rape of one passenger in New Delhi, which has been cited as the main reason behind Uber's new move.

According to Salle Yoo, Uber's general counsel, driving for Uber offers flexibility and options that are particularly attractive for women.

UN Women, the United Nations body, has also agreed to go into partnership with Uber in order to help with its recruitment drive. The two organizations said that they had a shared vision of equality and women's empowerment.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said that by giving women direct access to safe and equitable earning opportunities, they will be able to advance gender equality globally.

Uber currently operates in 55 countries and 14% of Uber's 160,000 US drivers are women. There are no statistics publicly available on the demographics of Uber's international driving force.

Following the rape of a woman passenger by a driver in India, Uber partnered with First Advantage, a company that performs background checks, to begin screening all India-based drivers.

The irony is that Uber has been accused of being a sexist. The company gave a London woman 20 euros in credit after she accused her driver of sexual harassment.