Uber Technologies Inc. received 5,981 reports of sexual assault during its rides in the U.S. in 2017 and 2018 combined, the ride-hailing company said in a Dec. 5 safety report.

The majority of the reported assaults were classified as nonconsensual touching of a sexual body part. There were a total of 464 reports of non-consensual sexual penetration in 2017 and 2018, which the company said is the most serious category captured in the taxonomy of the report.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi shared the report on Twitter, saying that Uber will be a "better company" for taking this step today.

"Doing the right thing means counting, confronting, and taking action to end sexual assault," Khosrowshahi said.

The company also outlined practices it is implementing to ensure safety, including having more than 300 employees dedicated to safety, increasing driver background checks, adding technology to check in with riders if a long stop during a trip is detected, adding an in-app emergency button, and giving riders the ability to report incidents to Uber before the ride is over.

Lyft Inc., Uber's ride-hailing rival, will release its own safety report but did not provide a timeline, The Washington Post reported.

Meanwhile, The New York Times on Dec. 5 reported that a group of 19 women sued Lyft Inc. for allegedly covering up sexual assault reports and failing to implement safety measures that could have prevented the incidents.

Shares of Uber were down 2.67% at $27.88 on Dec. 6.