Safecity Monthly Updates: June 2019
Women Deliver 2019 Conference
Our Head of Program Outreach and Volunteer Engagement Tania Echaporia attended the Women Deliver 2019 Conference as part of the Rise Up – Levantemos leadership delegation. She participated in discussions, activities and workshops to help amplify the work being done around the world to bring about a brighter future for women and girls and further the cause of gender equity.
Tania shares, “Women Deliver 2019 was a memorable experience. Meeting and interacting with so many social activists and potential collaborators was truly inspiring and beneficial at the same time. Each session – from the plenaries to the panel discussions was very informative and interesting- it’s difficult to single out one.”
Appy Hour
Tania Fernandes also represented Safecity and our mobile app as one of the 18 apps at the Women Deliver 2019 Conference at Appy Hour- where a few select mobile applications and their solutions were being showcased. She says, “Presenting the Safecity App at the Appy Hour was thrilling and exciting as so many people were interested and keen to learn more about creating safe places for women and girls. The highlight of the evening was being approached by an Honourable Member of Parliament from India who would like to work with us in Maharashtra!”
Participatory Training in Human Rights Education
Safecity co-hosted a two-day certificate course in ‘Participatory Training in Human Rights Education’ for those working in or interested in working in the social sector to enable easier understanding of the various components of participatory human rights education, its technical components, and taking the conversation from HRE to advocacy and action.
The course was conducted by One Future Collective & Red Dot Foundation- Safecity, and supported by the Canadian Consulate in Mumbai on 27-28th June 2019.
From App to Political Action
Elsa D’Silva, our Founder and NED fellow, was at the National Democratic Institute as one of the speakers for the panel on crowdsourcing apps and social mobilization. She shared information and stories collected from diverse voices on our crowdmap are then used for finding solutions and advocating change in order to create safer cities.
Updates from Patna
Naina Jha conducted an awareness workshop about sexual harassment for a slum community living behind Patna Medical College & Hospital, Bihar. The workshop was conducted on 10 June along with a group of volunteers that worked in that community. About 20 women participated in the workshop.
Since she was meeting the community for the first time, she began with a few ice-breakers. Once they were more comfortable, she explained to them the different forms of sexual harassment. On learning these, many of the women admitted that their faced harassment like whistling, staring and commenting almost on a daily basis. Towards the end of the workshop Naina also explained to the women, the law and legislation in India with regard to sexual harassment in public spaces and their rights to safety.
Corporate Workshops
This month we have been conducting workshops for Corporates like Suzlon, Ogilvy and Mather and others. In case you would like us to conduct POSH & Gender Sensitivity workshops at your corporate, please do get in touch with us at info@reddotfoundation.org
Safecity Emerging Leaders
Safecity is celebrating the journey of people who have emerged as leaders as our campaigns progressed in their communities through our blog series “Safecity Emerging Leaders”. Read the inspiring stories of these individuals who are passionate about making their neighbourhoods safer with Safecity and have taken action in their own special ways.
Read this month’s Emerging Leader Blessy Varghese’s story on our blog here.
When we asked Blessy about her experience doing an internship with Safecity, this is what she had to say –
“I have improved my writing skills and learned more extensively about the many difficulties women face everywhere. I realize the extent to which women suffer, the obstacles that women activists have to go through. There are many women who are sentenced to death and imprisonment for raising their voices. It was also uplifting to see tiny victories such as driving licences being granted to women in Saudi Arabia, The Triple Talaq Bill being passed in India and such.”
We have several opportunities for you to volunteer and take action. Do check our website.
Girl Fund Campaign
We have been selected by Global Giving to be part of their Girl Fund Campaign. We appreciate every generous donation. Even $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/
I am Nirbhaya. Save the Date!
Elsa Dsilva, our Founder, will be sharing her story, the birth of Safecity and why we need to break our silence around violence. Bookmark https://hubs.ly/H0jsfcv0 for July 1 2019 at 5:30pm EST.
TweetChats
Through our tweetchats, we are trying to facilitate important conversations around various issues related to gender in general and women’s issues in particular.
Check out May’s compiled tweetchats here – Beating Air Pollution, Gender and the Oceans, Cloak around Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and Who manages your garbage?
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?
- 6th July– Laws Through Cartoons workshop. Register here- bit.ly/LawsThruCartoons
- 10th July- ElsaMarie D’Silva’s public lecture at National Endowment for Democracy – Creating a Resilient and Inclusive Democracy in India. RSVP here
- Every Friday at 9 pm IST/ 1130 am EST join us on Twitter @pinthecreep
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