Safecity Monthly Updates: December 2019
Safecity is growing exponentially and we’re constantly striving hard to translate our vision of equality and emancipation to reality. Because we don’t want you to miss out on any of our work, we’ve decided to put together a monthly column to tell all you about what we’ve been up to. You can sign up for our newsletter here.
RED DOT FOUNDATION WISHES YOU A HAPPY & SAFE NEW YEAR!
Safe Campus Program – Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives project in Maharashtra
In keeping with our mission & constant endeavour to create Safe Public Spaces in the month of September, Red Dot Foundation commenced a six month ‘Safe Campus Program’ with 20 colleges in Maharashtra as part of the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives by the Government of Canada.
Our 100 Youth Leaders underwent an extensive Train the Trainer program in November. They are now in the second phase of the campaign where they have begun conducting workshops at their respective educational institutions, sensitizing fellow students on topics of gender equality, sexual violence prevention, safety in public spaces, laws against sexual violence, etc. They are working industriously to make their campuses safe and inclusive.
So far, peer workshops have been conducted in the following educational institutes:
- Poona College, Pune
- Karve Institute of Social Sciences, Pune
- Hill Green High School, Pune
- Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune
- M. H. Saboo Siddik Polytechnic College, Mumbai
- SNDT University, Mumbai
- L. S. Raheja College of Architecture, Mumbai
- Shahu College, Pune
Also, our Head of Training and Special Projects, Marissa Borges, conducted the first CFLI 2019 administration session on the POCSO and POSH legislation with the faculty members at M.H. Saboo Siddik Polytechnic, Mumbai. Read our complete report here.
Train the Trainer Workshop on behalf of the British Deputy High Commission, Mumbai
Our CEO, ElsaMarie D’Silva, and our Head of Training and Special Projects, Marissa Borges, recently conducted a Train the Trainer Workshop on the protection of children from sexual abuse. This was in partnership with the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai for Chevening Alumni.
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Amplify Change – Updates from Pune
Under the Amplify Change grant, we are working in two communities in Pune – Premnagar and Kasewadi – on Safe Public Spaces. Over the last eight months, our on-ground team has reached out to school and college students as well as the local Anganwadi centres to educate them on gender sensitivity, sexual violence prevention and the various legislations protecting their rights. We are educating residents to reclaim their agency with regards to their safety. Through data collection, anonymous stories and localised campaigns we are spreading the message in the community through youth leaders. The feedback from the local residents, especially the women of the area has been extremely positive. We have recently visited one of the police stations in the vicinity with the data and the authorities are more than happy to interact and come to our sessions. Catch a glimpse of our report here.
Project Rise Up/ Balsuraksha – Updates from Satara
Updates from Delhi
On December 5, 2019, Safecity conducted a session for children from Anganwadi, Sudhar Camp, Delhi. The session, conducted by our Youth Outreach Officer, Jyoti Goyal, dealt with the topic of Safe and Unsafe Touch. The session was attended by 13 children belonging to the age group of 2-5 years. The kids were taught concepts like safe touch, unsafe touch, safe/unsafe company, etc. You can read the entire report here.
Updates from Patna
Naina Jha from Safecity took a workshop about Sexual Harassment Awareness with the girls of Rainbow Homes, Patna in collaboration with Gupshup on December 22, 2019. The session began by discussing what harassment is and what are its types. The girls were also informed about the laws related to Gender-based Violence and they were taught how to file an FIR. We received numerous heart-wrenching stories from the girls about their experiences of sexual harassment. We listened to them and counselled them on redressal measures. You can read the full report here
Be Your Own Superhero
This campaign is to celebrate your story. It’s to celebrate the countless stories that collectively give us hope to #RiseTogether and fight against injustice. If you’re someone who has stood up for a friend who was being harassed, we would love to hear your heroic story too!
#BeYourOwnSuperhero today and share your story of action against harassment with us- bit.ly/BeYourOwnSuperhero
Girl Fund Campaign
We have been selected by Global Giving to be part of their Girl Fund Campaign. We appreciate every generous donation. Even Rs 500 or $10 will go a long way.
You can use this link to donate- https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/training-10-youth-campus-ambassadors-on-safety/
Through our TweetChats, we are trying to facilitate important conversations around various issues related to the gender-spectrum in general and women in particular.
Check out December’s compiled TweetChat here – Orgasm Equality
That’s all for this month. Keep watching this space and we’ll keep you updated on all our work and exciting activities every month!
What’s in store for Safecity in December?
- Ongoing – Safe Campus Program- The journey of training the Youth leaders to build safer campuses will become more interesting as their teachers will join in too!
- Ongoing – Project Bal Suraksha in Satara, Maharashtra
- Ongoing – Project Amplify Change in Pune, Maharashtra
- Every Friday at 9 pm IST/ 11.30 am EST join us on Twitter @pinthecreep
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