Safecity Monthly Updates – March 2023
Safecity is committed to creating safer communities for everyone. Our goal is to empower citizens by helping them understand the potential risks they could face in different neighbourhoods. We can do this by sharing our experiences or others anonymously and make these stories available for all. The platform serves law enforcement agencies with information on sexual harassment and other crimes occurring in public and private spaces. The platform’s data helps keep public spaces safe by enabling authorities to keep track of incidents and prevent sexual harassment in the future.
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Highlight of the Month
She Is – Water Sheroes is the third book in the series She Is, amplifying women’s leadership in diverse fields – sustainability, STEAM and now water. To mark Water Day, as part of the campaign #SheLeadsHere, a book She Is – Water Sheroes was launched at a side event on Mar 22, 2023 at the UN 2023 Water Conference, UN Headquarters, New York and at the Consulate General of Canada, Mumbai on March 23, 2023. The book written by ElsaMarie D’Silva, (Founder, Red Dot Foundation) and Supreet K Singh, (Co-Founder & CEO, Red Dot Foundation) in partnership with Professor Irena Creed, (Professor of the Department of Physical & Environmental Sciences and Vice-Principal Research and Innovation at the University of Toronto Scarborough), features 29 women in the field of water, comprising 11 women scientists in Canada and 10 women scientists in India as well as 4 young innovators and community leaders from both countries who work in Climate Action and Water.
Venue of Book Launch in New York, USA on Mar 22, 2023.
The 1st copy of She Is – Water Sheroes being given by ElsaMarie D’Silva, Founder, Red Dot Foundation at UN HQ, New York on Mar 22, 2023.
Diedrah Kelly, Consul General of Canada in Mumbai & Supreet K Singh, CoFounder & CEO, Red Dot Foundation launching the book She Is – Water Sheroes on March 23, 2023, at the Canadian Consulate, Mumbai.
Supreet K Singh, CoFounder & CEO, Red Dot Foundation & Diedrah Kelly, Consul General of Canada in Mumbai with the Women Sheroes at the Canadian Consulate in Mumbai.
Get your Local and International Copy Here!
International Women’s Day
A video by our team on “What is that one word that defines you as a woman?”.
Stand Up Against Street Harassment
To date, 13,000 people have benefited from the program.
Reach out to us at info@reddotfoundation.org if you would like to conduct a training program for your organization.
Responsible Community Based Tourism
- Mahalasa Kini from Rotary Club conducted a mentoring session on the Basics of Entrepreneurship and E-Commerce for 50 rural women entrepreneurs from Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka.
- Red Dot Foundation will be collaborating with Rotary Club in the upcoming month to conduct more sessions for 150 women from Maharashtra, Goa, Dandeli, Karwar, and Udupi.
- 100 rural and marginalised women entrepreneurs have been trained, mentored, and onboarded onto the PlaceXplore App. These women hail from Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. This connects their micro-enterprises to tourists using the App and expands their business through community based tourism.
Training Sessions on Gender Sensitive Communication, Understanding Indian Laws & Becoming Better Bystanders
Spread over 538 acres of mountainous terrain, IIT Mandi campus was the platform of our training sessions for students of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), professors and non-teaching staff on 21st and 22nd March 2023 on ‘Gender Sensitive Communication, Understanding Indian Laws as well as Becoming Better Bystanders’. Around 50 eager participants attended the interactive training session, happy to have gained from this learning and unlearning process with the efforts to make the campus safe, inclusive and diverse for everyone.
After the training a professor stated, “We came here voluntarily to see what exactly it is that we need to understand. But we were surprised to learn about so many new things. Looking forward to applying these techniques in my own life.”
Our trainers Meera Menezes and Vaibhavi Rani on their part, came away with beautiful memories of their visit.
Reach out to us info@reddotfoundation.org if you wish to conduct this program in your institution.
Safecity Feminist Community
We have created a new Safecity discord server where all members of the community can join and chat about gender equality and women empowerment in a variety of ways.
Come join our Safecity Feminist Community server to have fun discussions, participate in debates and games, appreciate feminist art and literature and share your own personal ideas free of judgement.
Click here to join the server: discord.gg/F4BhEj9ahR
Looking forward to meeting you all at Safecity Feminist Community!
IG Lives
An IG Live with Sophie Sandberg, Founder of ChalkBack and Camila Gomide, Program Manager, Safecity, on “Going Beyond Chalking: Further Advocacy Steps”. Watch the live here!
Our first IG live in Portuguese with incredible Brazilian women and partners Alessandra Mattos, Laura Bortolo, Myrian Castello & Thalita Gelenske, conducted by Camila Gomide on Harassment and Equity: How Brazil can celebrate women this March 8th. Watch the live here!
An IG Live with Tessie Udegboka – Executive Director, WHAI Africa, Mba Ifeoma – Volunteer, WHAI Africa, and Camila Gomide, Program Manager, Safecity, on “Cultural Bias in Informal and Hearing Impaired Communities: A Tech-Based Solution”. Watch the live here!
Rainbow Circles
Watch our Ambassadors in discussion with our team on the topics:
Gender Equality. Watch the IG Live here!
Advantages & Disadvantages of Social Media in Today’s World. Watch the IG Live here!
In Other Parts of the World
Red Dot Foundation in partnership with NGO CSW/NY held an event on 13 March at CSW67 with four Safecity Chapters from Kenya, The Philippines, Nigeria and New York City. The event “Safecity – a crowdmap for sexual and gender based violence” featured stories of how technology was making an impact on gender based violence in local communities. The event was well attended with close to 100 people including the head of NGO CSW/NY, Houry Geudelekian and an opening address by Ms Annette Ludwig from the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations.
We are thankful to The Gender Alliance, Bayi Inc., Polycom Development Project, Whispering Hope In Africa and the Chalk Back.
What’s Happening this Month?
Red Dot Foundation is pleased to partner with Stop Street Harassment and Catcalls of NYC to host the Anti-Street Harassment Week 2023 from April 16-22, 2022.
It is an opportunity to collectively raise awareness that street harassment is a daily reality for many and that it’s not okay. Amazing activists and ordinary individuals around the world work hard year-round to make public places safer but once a year (one week in April each year) we can help amplify each other’s voices and get global mainstream media attention for this issue by collectively speaking out together.
Please fill this form to register for the events or help us organize the same. All participants will be provided a certificate of participation.
Safecircle
SafeCircle is a secure, trusting space for survivors of violence and abuse. This is a non-judgmental listening circle for survivors to share their experiences, learn from others and know that they are not alone. You are invited to join us, on zoom, in sharing and learning in SafeCircle.
This is a space only for people who are survivors of any kind of abuse in their lives. We are facilitating a safe community space where we can seek to find solutions through sharing, listening and offering insights. Kindly note that it is not a therapy session or an SOS solution.
We cordially invite you to join these sessions. They are held in English and in Hindi languages. Once you register, our team will reach out to you with details such as the time and date of the SafeCircle.
Please fill in this form to register!
Meet the Latest Addition to the Red Dot Foundation Team!
“I am Ayswarya Sajeev K. I have been associated with several Safecity programs for nearly 1 and half years. I realised that a lot can be done in terms of protecting women from violence. I started learning the basics like type of violence, how to file an FIR, gender bias etc., through various programs organised by Safecity. It also helped me utilise design skills through the ‘R U Safe’ Design Challenge programs conducted by RDF from where I gleaned that regardless of any field, we can somehow find solutions to these problems if we put our hearts and thoughts at work collectively.
Today, I am happy to have joined Red Dot Foundation and this learning curve has taught me how to respond, react and drive myself individually as well as collectively to stand against violence, creating safer spaces for women and vulnerable groups in whichever way possible.” – Ayswarya Sajeev K, Program Officer, Red Dot Foundation.
Key Points to Understand Through Data – March
Reports collected in the month of March 2023.
Safecity Reporting Platform
Safecity is a platform as a service product that powers communities, police and city government to prevent violence in public and private spaces. Our technology stack collects and analyses crowdsourced, anonymous reports of violent crime, identifying patterns and key insights. This data enables citizens, researchers and policymakers to create safer spaces by:
- Increasing awareness, transparency and public accountability
- Improving policy and tactical precision with data-led insights
- Optimising budgets to more effectively allocate resources
Get in touch if you want to be a Safecity partner: info@reddotfoundation.org
Report an incident on Safecity Platform
Download Safecity App on iOS Devices
Download Safecity App on Android Devices
Upcoming Events
- Online Events (Twitter Spaces, Tweetchats & Instagram Lives) with our chapters for Vital Voices Project.
- Anti-Street Harassment Week (Apr 16 – 22)
- Safecity Twitter Chats & Spaces
Red Dot Foundation Events on Twitter every Wedenesday…..do join us!
Recap of our Tweetchats:
– “Empowering & Centering Survivors Facing Gender-Based Digital Abuse and Harassment” with Sophie Sandberg, Founder of ChalkBack – bit.ly/40skPqn
– “Coercive Control and Femicide” with Dunja Bonacci & Ivana Šalinović from Safecity Croatia – bit.ly/IamMine
Recording of our Twitter Space:
– “Empowerment of Women Through Advancement of Social Media” with ElsaMarie D’silva & Laura Bertolato Silva on 1st March 2023. Check youth the recording here.
– “Celebrating Women in Diplomacy: How Can We #EmbraceEquity in Diplomatic Spaces” with Sylvia Mukasa, Trini Saona, Tanja Faller & moderated by Chris Fowler & Camila Gomide on International Women’s Day, 8th March 2023. Check out the recording here.
– “The Power of Youth: Student Activism in the Netherlands” with Tara Ulvila, Isabel Fotuhi & Anne Nthenge from Project4Equality on 15th March 2023. Check out the recording here.
Ongoing Projects
- Rainbow Circles
- STEM Leadership & Mentoring Program
- Stand Up Against Street Harassment with L’Oreal Paris India and Right To Be
- Responsible Community Based Tourism Program with SIDBI
- Gender Sensitive and Inclusive STEM Leadership Program for young women from Delhi NCR
- Youth League for Safer Cities
- Alumni Circles
- Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Fellowship
- Vital Voices Training