Peace Tables
Adya Singh is Safecity’s Social Media Intern, currently studying at The British School in her final year. In the future, she hopes to delve further into Computer Science and incorporate technological advances in the process of betterment of the society.
Peace Tables
Over the past few weeks, Safecity has conducted various Peace Tables in order to discuss matters of great significance, which is linked to the idea of promoting peaceful wellbeing across the world. The Peace Tables were conducted not only in form of Tweetchats and discussions on Twitter, but also in form of events, which were organized to talk about these issues.
Here are some of the dialogues and events which took place:
DELHI
5th October, 15 participants
Safecity organized a workshop for Master’s Students of Institute of Home Economics as part of their curriculum on Human Development and Child Rights. Through a participatory approach, the workshop aimed at establishing our intent of working with children, ethical practices, and the dynamics we need to account for while working with children. We spent time understanding the rights of children, laws that protect them, and the constructs that surround children in a community setting. We used films and case studies to talk about child sexual abuse and the debilitating impact it can have on children. We spoke of our responsibility in ensuring the best interest of a child in the work we do.
11th October, 20 participants
Aarushee Shukla our Campus Ambassador from Hansraj College, conducted an informative workshop-cum-discussion at the Delhi University Undergraduate Hostel for Girls with the help of the Safecity team on the International Girl Child Day. The theme of the workshop was Sexual Harassment through which she emphasised the importance of embracing one’s individuality and standing up for one’s rights. You can check for more details on Facebook.
15th October, 20 participants
Safecity organized a peace table with their campaign youth volunteers in Dakshinpuri. We spent our Saturday afternoon brainstorming ways to reclaim public spaces using art and discussing ways of engaging the community in the upcoming campaign interventions. This is part of our ongoing campaign for safe spaces in Dakshinpuri with our partner organization Action India.
21st October, 35 participants
Haq – Center for Child Rights and Safecity organized a workshop for girls in the neighborhood of Dwarka, New Delhi. The objectives of the workshop were to understand our rights, what is sexual harassment, and the laws that protect us. The girls spoke actively of the limiting gender roles that affect their access to spaces and opportunities, including further education and seeking employment.
21st October, 10 participants
Haq – Center for Child Rights and Safecity organized a workshop for the peer educators of Restless Development’s youth program in Dwarka, New Delhi. The workshop was full of conversations, stories, and learnings in understanding our gendered identities and how it affects our social relations. One of the other objectives was to understand what constitutes sexual harassment, what are the laws against it, and how it impacts our communities at large, including the spaces and opportunities we have access to. The participating boys are also members of our joint campaign with Action India in Dwarka for safe public spaces
24th October, 35 participants
Safecity in collaboration with Haq- Center for Child Rights organized a peace table with the field workers of our partner organization Action India. This peace table was organized as a strong reminder of our responsibilities towards children and the protection of their rights. A full day training followed where we came together to cement our understanding of the laws against child sexual abuse, the mechanisms and systems in place for case-based intervention and the support systems available to children survivors and their families. We spent the day talking about our challenges of working on-ground and directly with children, the hostility and difficulties in working with the system, and the emotional consequences of our work. It was a day of everyone finding their strength in the people they work with and reaffirming their commitment to empowering our children.
28th October, 45 participants
Action India and Safecity celebrated Diwali with our campaign volunteers of Dakshinpuri and Sanjay Camp. As we cherished our day with hugs, dancing and singing, we also took this opportunity to understand the impact of our ongoing campaign in these two neighborhoods and the plan ahead. Our youth volunteers launched their campaign to encourage bystander intervention against sexual harassment in public spaces on this day, discussing the action plan they will be taking up as part of it in November.
MUMBAI
6th October, 12 participants
Safecity conducted its first Peace Table in Mumbai with youngsters on the topic- ‘Biases and the World’. Our Program and Outreach Officer, Sumati Thusoo conducted the Peace Table covering various topics like the perfect woman, the imperfect women, body image and perceptions of perfection. We also went on to talk about stereotypes and the discrimination people face when they do not fit into these stereotypes.
Click here to see more
16th October, 10 participants
Safecity conducted a Peace Table at Carter Road discussing the film PINK, the laws in place to protect women against any form of harassment. Sumati Thusoo, organized an interactive session on the legal recourse taken by the characters in the movie and how to deal with similar situations. Kartikeya Bahadur, a Human Rights Lawyer, explained the importance of reporting, the different types of reports and the need to be informed and aware at all times.
Click here to see more
GOA
15th October
Sumati Thusoo, our Program and Outreach Officer in Mumbai, conducted the SafeGoa Consultation in Goa, a collaborative effort between #SafeCity and Bachchao to collect and analyse data on sexual harassment as well as to spread awareness on the issues of sexual violence and encourage reporting by using low-tech methodologies like printed open maps.
Click here to see more.
TWEETCHATS
7th October
Rasha Jarhum,, who is a gender rights activist in Yemen and the Founder of Yemeni Youth for Humanitarian Relief, conducted a Tweetchat based on the role that women played in order to promote peace and security. This entailed leadership positions as well as the need for female representation.
Click here to read more
11th October
To celebrate the #InternationalDayoftheGirlChild, Safecity and Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon conducted a TweetChat discussing Girl Power, gender roles and inequality. Consequently, the discussion was focused on the contributions of girls to society overall. The chat challenges that are commonly faced and how one can overcome them.
Click here to read more
14th October
Rachel Thompson, the founder of Sex Abuse Chat and Monday Blogs, lead a TweetChat on the 14th of October, which was moderated by Melissa Flicks. The chat was directed towards the trauma caused by sexual assault and the process of recovery which follows after such a tragedy.
Click here to read more
21st October
Kirthi Jayakumar the founder of The Red Elephant Foundation conducted a TweetChat. The theme of this discussion focused on the women and how they are linked with the United Nations, which is an organization directed towards growing and maintaining a peaceful society.
Click here to read more
28thOctober
Ushree Roy, who is a Development Sector Professional, conducted a Tweetchat on the idea of strengthening institutions in order to address inequalities, injustice and violence. Many issues of global importance were brought into the discussion such as accountability of organisations and political institutions.
Click here to read more
