Safecity Monthly Updates: March 2020

We hope you are safe and that you are taking adequate precautions against COVID19. On our part we have cancelled all public events and workshops. We have always been a work-from-home organization, so we are happy to share some of our learnings

• A regular routine gives you a semblance of normalcy in these uncertain times.
• Use a calendar keeps track of your time and helps block off periods of time for work, exercise, and leisure.
• Intersperse your day with a bit of exercise, a walk around the block, or with some quiet time.
• Pause and reflect. You will look back and appreciate how the pace of life slowed down.
• Be grateful as there are many who don’t have the comfort and luxury of working from home.

We are using this time to revamp our workshops, up-skill our staff and strengthen our internal processes. We are also evaluating online offerings like sharing circles, learning webinars and more. So, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn and connect with us.

In the meantime, stay safe and socially engaged but distant from everyone.

Covid-19 has brought forward many faces of injustice but the power of solidarity and unity prevails over all of them. In the light of this pandemic, our Crowdmap will now collect data on three more crimes; Domestic Violence, Online Harassment and Human Trafficking. You can also find resources for Food arrangements during the current situation and Information on the disease.

Safecity is working from home and we’re trying to make best out of this time for everyone. Because we don’t want you to miss out on our work, we’ve decided to put together a monthly column to tell you about what we’ve been up to. You can sign up for our newsletter here.

Global Mentoring Walk 2020

ElsaMarie DSilva, Supreet K Singh from Red Dot Foundation and Priti Patkar from Prerana Anti Human Trafficking Centre are Vital Voices fellows. Each year, around International Women’s Day, fellows from the Vital Voices network host a Global Mentoring Walk as a way to pay it forward. The walk being symbolic, continues to this day with Vital Voices members hosting over 150 walks each year in over 60 countries.

Organized in JW Marriott, Sahar on 7th March, this year was the fifth edition of the Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walk in Mumbai. The mentees were young women from the Prerana Anti Human Trafficking Centre, Save the Children, Sneha and Reality Gives. The Mentors ranged from Business leaders, entrepreneurs, journalists, architects, Diplomatic corps and development sector professionals. The 31 pairs were matched based on the mentee’s goals and aspirations and the mentor’s skill sets. Everyone felt they were perfectly matched, thanks to the tireless efforts of our team members who believe in the power of mentoring.

One of the mentor shares, “My Mentee and I have faced similar challenges. When I was younger, my hands would start shaking whenever I would start speaking in front of a large crowd. But she has such confidence and I told her that this confidence will take her a long way. All of them have made whatever hurdles they’ve experienced in their lives, their strength and want to bring their family with them through their successes. They don’t want to depend on their brothers or family members and are determined to achieve success by themselves.”

We would like to thank the JW Marriott Sahar for their kind partnership and hospitality. We would also like to thank our NGO Partners, Mentors and Mentees for the beautiful and meaningful morning of sisterhood.

Creative Lab on Building Inclusive Cities

Do you think our transport system is equally accessible to everyone? Are public spaces safe for women? Is housing system affordable & accessible to all? These were few of the questions raised in the first Creative Learning Lab on ‘Building Inclusive Cities’ at the American Center, Delhi. On March 5th, multiple artists and Muralists viz Nidhi Batra from Sehreeti, Hanif Kureshi, Anpu Varkey and Sameer Chadha, Architect and Urban Designer.

The event began with presentations by the artists on their work. Sameer Chadha talked about his previous projects with different firms out of San Francisco, New York, Mumbai and Delhi whereas Hanif Kureshi and Anpu Varkey focused on the intersection of art and street culture. Nidhi, Founder-Director of Sehreeti, a platform for Collective Practices working towards a common urban agenda, shared her podcasts and stories from Mehrauli, Delhi.

After discussing the case studies on Inclusive Mobility and Safe, Accessible and Affordable Housing, the day concluded with a Panel on “Building Inclusive Cities” moderated by Shaili Chopra from She The People. The event was organized in collaboration with The Urban Vision, Nappinai & Co., She The People and presented by Leadership Network for Change at CDDRL, Stanford University.

We would like to thank the American Centre for hosting us and The Learning Change Network at Stanford CDDRL for giving us the opportunity to put together this event.

Safecity Emerging Leaders

In this issue of Safecity Emerging Leaders, our Social Media Intern Shalini Sharma shares her journey with Safecity in last two months. She writes, “When I joined Safecity a month ago, I never knew how courageous women around me are. I grew up reading examples of women & girls who were “supposedly” the exceptions for the society, working towards betterment for everyone. I perceived there are some women who raise their voices, thus portraying the whole community. And I have never been so wrong in my life. Every woman who is associated with Safecity is a ‘Wonder Woman’ and every person who’s doing even their small bits is an epitome of bravery.”

To read about her work and experience with us, you can head to her blog.

Updates from Pune

Mona More, our Program and Outreach Officer in Pune, finished the Post-baseline Survey for Amplify Change. Our project with Amplify Change concentrates on two specific localities in Pune- Premnagar and Kasewadi – and manages to loop in not only the residents but the Anganwadi centers as well as the students from these communities. We regularly conduct thorough workshops on gender sensitivity, sexual violence prevention and understanding of the legal mechanism for easier access to civil rights.

For the same project, Mona was invited to attend an event on Women’s Day along with former State Minister, Mr. Ramesh Nahee, Corporator Awinash Bagwe, Dr. Rushali Randhir and Mrs. Surekha Tai Dewte.

In Premnagar Community, Women’s Day was celebrated by hosting an Extempore Contest with the residents where they reaffirmed that ‘there’s nothing a woman can’t do‘. It saw participation of more than 50 women & girls and was judged by the Chief Guest of Day, Advocate Snehal Patil.

Updates from Satara: Rise Up

As part of the Rise Up “Bal Suraksha” Project in Satara – we approached the District Education Officer for a school Counselor. This request was one of the demands put forth by the ‘Know Your Rights Educators’ – girls from the schools that we are working with. Some of the schools do not have a single female staff or teacher. Therefore the need for a counselor is critical to address any harassment or sexual abuse issues.

We are also helping the schools to formalize a POCSO Policy which can be used in schools to curb sexual offences against children.

Before we discontinued our field-visits because of Pandemic, our officers in Delhi organized multiple workshops in the first fortnight of March. A session on Sexual Violence and POSH was conducted for Prajna Foundation and Etasha Society respectively. To read more about our work there, check out our February Newsletter.

Another Internship Fair, organized by PGDAV College, was attended by Kajal Antil and Vanshika, Officers in Delhi. Many students turned up and appreciated our work on Safecity app. They were really keen to be a part of the organisation.

Delhi team of Safecity celebrated Women’s Day with girls of Sarvodaya camp in Kalkaji. Girls were briefed about history of Women’s Day. They later did an activity and wrote about their unfulfilled desires which they can’t fulfill being a girl but were reminded that they can do anything if they believe in themselves. On the same occasion, another session on Safe and Unsafe Touch was held with children of Chappan Pahadi, Majnu ka Tila. Post discussion, the children expressed themselves through art and colors of Holi.

Sakhi Annual Poetry Awards 2019

The Woman Inc. & Beyond Black (a subsidiary of Red Dot Foundation/Safecity) in association with The Jimme Foundation, Sheroes and Point of View, organized SAKHI ANNUAL POETRY AWARDS 2019. An opportunity that became voice of creativity through words, rhymes & rhythms, and blank verses too.

Here’s the final list of winners who will be getting a mentorship/fellowship opportunity with The Woman Inc. magazine, Safecity, and Point of View.

Winners:

1. Vasanthi Sweta – If I wrote a letter to my daughter
2. Somrita Urni Ganguly – Devi: Beloved, Betrayed
3. Madhu Jaiswal – Queer

Special Mentions:

1. Pritesh Dagur – Most battles chose me
2. Pragya Bhagat – Iceland

We are grateful to the prestigious jury comprising of Sairee Chahal – CEO Sheroes, Supreet Singh – COO Red Dot Foundation and Safecity, Harish Iyer – Founder The Jimme Foundation, Bishakha Dutta – Founder Point of View and Pooja Garg – Founder and Chief Editor The Woman Inc. We’d also like to thank all the participants who made the task difficult for jury and joining us in the journey.

The winning and shortlisted poems will be out shortly as part of an anthology on The Woman Inc. Magazine.

Fireside Chat on Building Inclusive Cities

This live webinar series will explore ideas for urbanism and programming to support marginalized communities such as migrant and daily wage workers in our cities.The coronavirus pandemic has put the spotlight on the utter helplessness of the marginalized communities during calamities.

ElsaMarie D’Silva, Founder & CEO, Red Dot Foundation (Safecity) & Prathima Manohar, Founder of The Urban Vision are hosting a series of Live Video chats with thought leaders on the topic of Inclusive Cities. You can subscribe to the series here.

We chat with @JaganShah, an urban development thought leader with over two decades of experience in change-agency. He is an Architect, Educator and Former Director of the National Institute of Urban Affairs, an Autonomous Body under the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. He is currently Senior Advisor to Department for International Development (DFID), UK

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

International Women’s Day

To celebrate International Women’s Day and break the silence around Gender-based violence, Safecity invited Photo Features on the topic, “An Inside View of Gender-based Violence in South Asia” that are to be displayed in Jamia Milia Islamia University Exhibition. The Exhibition that was supposed to happen on 18th March is postponed to an indefinite date due to Covid-19.

Our Global newsletter

Do subscribe to the Red Dot Foundation Global newsletter if you would like specific news featuring our work across the globe.

Click here to read. Do subscribe if interested.

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/

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!