Know Our Team: Power to Change the World We Live In

Know Our Team is a series that attempts to bring to you the stories of our team, share our experiences, why we do what we do and special moments that have left an indelible mark in each of our lives. 

Vandita Morarka, a Law and Policy student, is also a BA Political Science and Economics Graduate from Sophia College for Women, Mumbai. She aims to become a successful Gender and Human Rights lawyer and is currently a voracious reader, traveller and part time writer. She realizes the immediate need for change in how society perceives its women and wants to work towards building that change.

Know our team: Power to Change the World We Live In

Before joining Safecity about a year ago I had worked in the social development sector through various NGOs and self led projects. One of these projects was leading a team of 120+ volunteers under the Students’ for Social Reform Initiative at Sophia College. It was during one of these projects that I met Elsa (Co-Founder & MD at Safecity) and heard of the innovative work Safecity was doing. The impact of Safecity’s work on me was such that fast forward to a year later, freshly graduated, I was writing to Elsa to join work at Safecity.

While working at Safecity, I’ve been pursuing an MA (Hons.) in Public Policy and an LLB. My work at Safecity has acted as a perfect amalgamation of my academic and work life interests. With a strong personal focus on gender and related issues through my academic life, issues of sexual harassment and their overreaching effects have been an important point of action for me. Safecity’s work on sexual harassment mapping and its community intervention programs are helping increase the mobility of women across the country: and I wanted to, in any small way, be a part of facilitating this change.

My role at Safecity was that of the Youth Outreach Coordinator. This primarily consisted of mobilizing students and young people across states and involving them in our campaigns as well as supporting new campaign ideas. I worked on a tie up with NSS, Mumbai University, building of a network of Campus Ambassadors as well as on the internship and volunteering programs Safecity offers. Apart from this Safecity also offered me diverse chances, including working on partnerships with other NGOs, being a part of on ground campaigns, facilitating street art projects etc.

The most amazing part of my work has been the sheer number of young volunteers and interns who keep coming back to work with us, their feedback is what motivates my work. My favorite memories of work at Safecity involve these young girls and boys telling us how working with Safecity has given them new perspective and aided their journey of personal growth and strengthened their resolve to fight against sexual harassment in public spaces. While our work focuses on sexual harassment in public spaces, it indirectly lends to the youth involved a safe space to discuss issues of importance, it aids them to develop an understanding of gender based issues and builds them up as leaders for the coming times.

We have had over 200 volunteers and interns work with Safecity in the past year; the energy, vibrancy and creativity they have brought in is outstanding! The youth led programs of Safecity are facilitating a new generation of girls and boys that are more sensitized and better equipped to recognize and deal with gender related issues and in their own way are contributing towards the process of nation building.

Working with Safecity has helped me employ my ideas for facilitating change in gender related issues through youth support. The work ethic and environment here is rich and invigorating and each day is a learning experience. The joy that working with Safecity gives me is unmatched! A common sentiment through college life is that of wanting to change the world we live in, for the better, Safecity has given me, and countless others, a chance to do that.

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any”