Safecity Monthly Updates – July 2022
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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Queer for Others Campaign
The Queer for Others initiative was launched in partnership with The Jimme Foundation, in Western India – Maharashtra, MP, Gujarat and Goa. The project’s goal is to work with 15 members of the LGBTQIA+ community to develop advocacy campaigns that examine GBV, CSA, Climate Justice, Dalit, and other minority rights from an intersectional standpoint. This project is being implemented by Red Dot Foundation in collaboration with Swechha, supported by the U.S. Embassy, India.
The members will receive capacity-building sessions on various intersectional topics as well as on campaign planning for advocacy in July – August 2022. Later, in September – November 2022, they will each develop their own campaigns and implement them with a clear outcome.
Training sessions have begun following a successful launch event. From the western and other regions of India, we have received 40 applicants. In the second week of July, we conducted a session on LGBTQIA+ rights, followed by a session in the last week of July on using social media for advocacy. They will continue participating in more such sessions for three months conducted by experts who will speak on topics such as child sexual abuse prevention, women’s rights, Dalit rights, climate justice, basic graphic design, creating advocacy campaigns, presentation skills, and community organising. Those who receive their training in July and August will have to design, present, and implement their campaign idea in September. The selected campaigns will be given financial support to run them.
Safe Maharashtra Project
The project “Safe Maharashtra”, funded by The Australian Consulate General in Mumbai, was carried out in Maharashtra, where we partnered with 5 distinct NGOs (Dhanwantari, Swayam, CORO, Sneha, and Kalapandhari Magasvargiya & Adivasi Gramin Vikas Sanstha) spread out over the state. The project aimed to increase the NGOs’ capacity in gender equality, laws, and data literacy while also focusing on some community-based safety measures.
We have worked with our 5 partner NGOs in Satara, Mumbai, Pune and Latur for the past year. We held workshops in Hindi, Marathi and English along with the NGOs and community members, considering the diverse cultural backgrounds. The workshops covered a variety of subjects, including gender sensitivity, legal training, computer literacy, data dashboards, and building capacity for data collection via the Safecity platform.
Achievements of the Project
The Red Dot Foundation team trained 2,153 people, and the partner NGOs reached out to 5,052 people through their workshops. The project impacted 288 communities, with 198 incidents recorded on the Safecity platform. We could also reach out to 751 people through the community campaigns.
Marathi, the state language of Maharashtra, has been added to the Safecity platform. The questions were modified to empathetically allow survivors to share their experiences. They were also shown how to identify the community/ location they are reporting from. This will allow them to identify issues in a specific area and find solutions to create a safe neighbourhood through localised collective action.
Safety Champion Campaign
As part of the Safety Champion Campaign, we are conducting a campaign with Standard Chartered Bank. 12 employee volunteers trained by the RDF team will reach out to their domestic workers, office staff, building security personnel etc., and speak to them about sexual harassment or gender-based violence. They will help them report on the Safecity platform.
The volunteers attended two orientation sessions, explaining how to use the platform, and in the second session, their queries were answered, and we are receiving reports from them.
Stand Up Against Street Harassment
In its efforts to educate the public about street harassment in public areas and sensitise and teach local communities how to intervene in such a circumstance, RDF has teamed with L’Oreal Paris India and Right To Be.
These engaging one-hour training sessions will equip people to resist harassment on the street and be active as well as effective bystanders.
Through involvement and practice, participants picked up easy intervention tactics based on the 5Ds methodology, which they can use while maintaining their own and the victim’s safety in case the situation arises.
We have completed training more than 1,600 people on bystander intervention in Satara, Pune and Mumbai in Maharashtra. These were engaging sessions that were sure to keep one interested.
Community Health Workers Trainings
The Community Health Workers Training is a project led by RDF in partnership with HDFC. The project aims to train 4,000 additional community health workers—including Asha workers, Anganwadi workers, and social activists—about Covid precautions, women’s health and reproductive rights, and women’s safety laws in Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka.
The objective is to enhance and strengthen community linkage through knowledge and preparedness, prevention and control for women’s health and safety in the context of the pandemic. We also want to train the participants on women’s rights, as the pandemic saw an increase in gender-based violence across the globe.
This month, in the third quarter of the project, and up till July 28, 2022, we have trained 770 beneficiaries – Asha and Anganwadi workers, migrant, sanitation and sex workers, as well as women in self-help groups from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa. Moreover, since the commencement of the project, we have trained 2,828 beneficiaries up till July 28.
Case study: Swati Mohanrav Dhane is an Asha worker from Padali village, Satara. She organised a program in her village which was attended by about 100 women and the Sarpanch as well as other village officials. She explained the importance of women’s health and safety and guided them on their legal rights. The women enjoyed this session and requested for more such meetings.
Here are two testimonies –
“This session will create employment opportunities for women like us by training on basics of women’s health and safety.”
“The workshop was great. I would like to share my knowledge with school students.”
Red Dot Foundation Global at the HLPF 2022
The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) hosted the HLPF (High-Level Political Forum) 2022 from July 5-7 and 11-18 at UN Headquarters in New York, US. Hundreds of side events, special events, VNR Labs, and exhibitions were held in person and online. Six Heads of State and Government, more than 130 deputy prime ministers, ministers, vice-ministers, and representatives from governments, intergovernmental organisations, and civil society, attended the HLPF.
RDFG participated in the Women’s Major Group Colour Campaign, with each day assigned a colour to highlight the group’s demand. We pushed for ending militarism, colonialism, and occupation (blue) while also promoting feminist climate justice (yellow) and safeguarding human rights advocates (green).
In order to persuade member states, delegations, and ministers to enact laws that guarantee genuine gender inclusion, high-quality education, and sustainable livelihoods for everyone, we donned these colours of feminist campaigning during HLPF main sessions, side and special events, and voluntary national reviews (VNRs).
RDF organised a virtual side-event on the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women in India. An entrepreneurial showcase by rural women followed this panel discussion. We discussed the underlying issues that affect women in rural areas, the assistance they require to grow themselves and their businesses, and how we could assist them. The pandemic’s socio-economic toll was also stressed, as well as the need to support “Made in India” local movements to empower women and girls.
Responsible Tourism Programme
The “PlaceXplore Lab ” is a responsible tourism lifeskilling programme aimed at developing and promoting community-based tourism and experiential travel. The micro-entrepreneurship and lifeskilling training program was launched on Sunday 24th July 2022 in Udupi. The program is being hosted by Red Dot Foundation, Tiniva, The Urban Vision, Sehreeti, Udupi Zilla Panchayats National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) Program, Udupi Tourism and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). This project is a result of a winning entry in the Swavalamban Challenge for entrepreneurship of the Small Industries Development Bank of India.
The launch event featured a panel discussion and a community-based tourism entrepreneurship training session. There were a range of tourism microenterprise initiatives from ancient Udupi culinary experiences, traditional performing arts and traditional artisans, and wellness entrepreneurs from beauty, yoga and ayurveda-based products. 44 women from National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) trained for self-employment through the district Zilla Panchayat office are also part of this responsible tourism cohort. 
My Body, My Rights
Red Dot Foundation is a part of the SAGE – Brave Movement. RDF has launched an advocacy campaign for education institutions and non-profit organisations to highlight the risks of child sexual abuse and stress the importance of protecting children from the risk of abuse in both the physical world and the digital environment. The advocacy campaign will feature roundtables and a youth programme in addition to the change.org petition.
1) Roundtables:
We will be organising 10 roundtable conversations engaging youth, community-based organizations, NGOs, and educational institutions to understand children’s current challenges regarding safety and security and share possible solutions. The outcome of these discussions will be to produce a white paper listing the demands of bodily rights of children, youth, and people that we can later present to the local and national government to ensure safer school and college campuses.
If you are interested, please sign up here.
2) Youth Advocates for CSA prevention:
If you are a young person between the ages of 18-30 years and wish to lead a campaign for bodily rights in your community, please sign up here.
3) #BeBrave Petition
Please join us as survivors and our allies to demand prevention, to protect current and future generations; healing for survivors and their families; and justice for survivors, holding perpetrators and the complicit to account. You can sign the petition here – Be Brave Petition
Youth Innovation Challenge 2022 – Engendering Climate Action
We are inviting youth aged 17-25 years in Maharashtra and Goa to put on their thinking caps and develop innovative solutions to ACT NOW for Climate Change.
The theme is Engendering Climate Action for Hyperlocal Solutions through a Gendered Lens for Water and Waste Management in local Communities.
Please register here before 25 August 2022.
Global Data Challenge
The time to act is now! Red Dot Foundation Global invites you to join a global community that together will brainstorm, network and co-create solutions and recommendations to make your city safer! During this five-week Global Data Challenge, starting on September 13th, participants from all over the world will learn about data collection, hear from amazing advocates and collaborate with each other to find solutions to tackle unsafety for all genders.
Join us by registering here.
SafeCircle
SafeCircle is a safe listening circle for survivors of violence and trauma to find support facilitated by our CEO Supreet K Singh. During COVID-19 we have witnessed increasing numbers of cases of intimate partner/ domestic violence and online harassment. Through these listening circles, survivors will find a community of support, share strategies to address and prevent the violence and offer solidarity to peers. Since May 2020 we have been providing psychosocial support to over 25 survivors.
Read on to learn more about SafeCircle here.
If you would like to attend a SafeCircle please visit here. Sessions are held every fourth Friday of the month from 3 pm – 5 pm IST.
Intern Talks – Nang Parami Chowlu
“Whatever affects one affects all indirectly.
My internship with Red Dot Foundation has provided me with hands-on experience in surveying the safety standards prevalent in a city, which otherwise I would have ignored in my daily life. It has forced me to think about how every minor incident affects us directly or indirectly. The internship was a worthwhile experience, and I feel it has prepared me well for my professional career.”
Key points to understand through data – July
Click here to see the Safecity Data Dashboards.
Safecity Reporting Platform
Safecity is a platform as a service product that empowers 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.
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Upcoming Projects and Events
- Tweetchats every Friday at 9 pm IST on Twitter at @TheSafecityApp.
Ongoing Projects
- Queer Hifazat Project
- Queer for Others Campaign – Being implemented by RDF in partnership with Swechha, supported by the U.S. Embassy India
- Community Health Workers Trainings with HDFC Bank – Parivartan
- Community Health Workers Trainings with City of Stuttgart
- Mentoring on Personal Leadership with Young Girls and Women with Adventures of the Mind
- Stand Up Against Street Harassment with L’Oreal Paris India and Right To Be
- Responsible Tourism Programme
- My Body, My Rights
- Youth Innovation Challenge 2022