Safecity Monthly Updates – October 2021

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.

Subscribe to our newsletter here

Peer Mentoring Bootcamp with Rural Digital Entrepreneurs  

Peer mentoring program was an interactive online mentoring bootcamp with Digital Entrepreneurs – (rural women trained on imparting Digital Financial Literacy to the rural – urban community). This was a “peer mentoring” bootcamp where we learnt from each other through sharing common challenges.

The program was organised by Red Dot Foundation and SANI Mumbai with rural women from Maharashtra. It was supported by the Swedish Institute and the Consulate General of Sweden in Mumbai. We liaised with AFARM for mentoring 10 Rural Digital Entrepreneurs (RDE). Each RDE was paired with a senior woman leader from the private or development sector. Every fortnight/week for three months, the RDE and her mentor met for a mentoring session. 

Results and Outcomes

• This project demonstrated the need for longer sessions and also a more sustained investment in RDEs.
• The RDEs found the capacity building and mentoring sessions useful. They were not only provided with knowledge and skills but also an ecosystem of support.
• The Mentors were provided with perspectives beyond their lived reality and a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by rural women in India.
• Mentoring programs have long-lasting effects – greater self confidence in the RDE, confidence in speaking Hindi and rudimentary English and motivation to aspire for larger goals.

The following SDGs were addressed during the project

• SDG 1: No Poverty
• SDG 5: Gender Equality
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequality
• SDG 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal

“I feel that the Digital program for rural women entrepreneurs is really very insightful. It is one of the most effective outcome oriented programs I have known. The passion and capability of rural women that this program brings out is an eye-opener,” says Beroz Rumie Gazdar, who is the Chair of the Swedish Alumni Network in Mumbai.

Watch the final event of the bootcamp here.

Youth Innovation Challenge on Gender and Climate Justice

October brought us to the finale of the Youth Innovation Challenge (YIC) program which ran over two months with workshops and mentors guiding 12 teams with their ambitious projects.

Sponsored by the Consulate General of Sweden, the theme this year focused on Gender and Climate Justice. With an overwhelming response of 108 applications, 48 were shortlisted. After much debate 12 teams were selected by an esteemed jury of 14 members. 

On October 22, well prepared with mock dry runs, backed by 16 mentors and 7 master classes on various topics, 11 teams confidently made their final presentations in the 5 minute time limit given to them to a jury of 6 members, Erik Malmberg, Consulate General of Sweden, Mumbai, Thomas Melin, Global Utmaning, Elin Andersdotter Fabre, Her City Team, UN-Habitat, Swati Mohapatra, UNICEF, Ritesh Sinha, HDFC Bank, Aafreen Siddiqui, UNDP. Erik Malmberg, Deputy Consul, Consulate General of Sweden, Mumbai gave a keynote address and Sameer Unhale, Joint Commissioner, Directorate of Municipal Administration, Government of Maharashtra gave the closing remarks.

The much-awaited results that emerged:

1st Place: StandWeSpeak
Team Members: Priyal Agrawal, Keshav Maheshwari, Ishanika Sehgal, Abhishek Sharma

2nd Place: Hunger Map Project & Enactus HRC (Tie)
Team Members: Hunger Map Project
Neeraj Shetye, Mithila Naik-Satam, Aishwarya Pandit, Aishwarya Pandit

Team Members: Enactus HRC
Riya Choithani, Maitri Bhatt, Sukirti Chawla, Shrushti Gandhi

3rd Place: Team Meltdown
Team Members: Vaishnavi Dhas, Sanika Sawant

Watch the final pitch of the YIC here.

A few judges were immensely impressed with the innovations of some teams and offered to guide them further with their projects to fruition. We wish all the teams every success in their ventures and look forward to an increased participation next year.

Here’s what the leader of Team Enactus HRC has to share about their experience:

“Leading the team was a learning experience! All of us at Enactus HRC took away valuable insights, received heartwarming mentors and we take home learning forever. We’re honored by the execution of this challenge and we really look forward to taking part in associated events. Thank you so much! Sharing some of my memories!” writes Riya Choithani.

Daan Utsav

DaanUtsav (earlier called the Joy of Giving Week) is India’s ‘festival of giving’. Launched in 2009, the festival is celebrated every year – commencing on Gandhi Jayanti – from October 2 to 8.

This year Red Dot Foundation was pleased to participate in the festival joining hands with India Welfare Trust and Internshala who reached out to volunteers to give their time to create safer places in their neighbourhood and safer cities.

A special video for the campaign was created by RDF for India Welfare Trust which was covered by BloombergQuint.

With a response of over 200 enthusiastic volunteers, the campaign aimed to spread awareness of the Safecity platform in its endeavour to make both private and public spaces safe for everyone. Four orientations were held over 2 weeks and people’s experiences and stories poured in.

Here’s some interesting feedback from the volunteers:

“I was extremely impressed when I got to know about the existence of the Safecity app and its aim. A simple yet brave step towards making this world safer for those who feel threatened when walking on the streets. As soon as I saw that I could be a part of something like this, I jumped right in. I was eager to be a volunteer here and to get started with the work. The orientation was further enlightening. I was truly amazed by the kind of impact and action this app had led to. 

When I started talking to people and told them about the app, everyone considered it a great initiative and were willing to contribute. I made sure that I began the conversation with a trigger warning and made them feel comfortable to talk about their experiences. When they agreed, I carefully explained the motive and workings of this app. They felt heard and hands down, it is the best feeling ever. I am planning to continue working for the organisation. There is no stopping after this. This is a chance for me to bring about change and give back to society, an opportunity that I would never want to miss,” writes Mushkan Jogani, Safecity Safety Champion.

 

“Participating in the ‘Safecity Safety Champion’ Campaign organised by Red Dot Foundation and Internshaala was one of the most productive events I have been a part of.

It gives you a new perspective on what our fellow friends go through in life or the risks they face just because they are born as a specific gender. Being a part of this internship makes you want to do something for our fellow friends and people to create real impact on society which will help them to live in a world where they would not feel unsafe anywhere,” writes Naheem Abdul.

Safe Campus Project, Phaltan, Satara

Safe Campus is an advocacy campaign for the effective implementation of the POCSO Act with the Zila Parishad, Education Officer and The Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) or the Block Level officer to ensure that all Educational Institutions in the Phaltan taluka create safe campuses.

With the aim of reaching 200 schools of Phaltan taluka, we began to train Young Girl Leaders from various schools and colleges of  Phaltan who will reach out to other students and people of their community to spread awareness on child safety and build safe campuses.

The Red Dot Foundation team trained Young Girl Leaders on various topics related to safety, laws and their rights. These training sessions included topics like sexual harassment, POCSO Act, mental health, social media use, self defence, Zoom app etc. After learning all these, Young Girl Leaders then went further to spread this knowledge in their educational institutes and community.

In the month of October, we trained more than 1200 girls, teachers and parents on various topics related to safety, safe campus and mental health.
We are glad to share that 96.4% participants shared that these sessions have changed their perceptions and understanding about various social topics.

Impact Stories

Dipika Pisal (Class 8th)
Venutai Chauhan Girls High School, Phaltan

“I am so lucky that I got connected with the Safe Campus of Red Dot Foundation because through this I got to learn new things which I never knew. I would not have got this opportunity otherwise. I feel proud that I am teaching these things to other kids in my area. They feel elated when I teach them interesting and new things.  

One significant change in me which I would like to mention is that I have got the courage to speak against bad things which happen in society. Through the Safe Campus sessions I realised discrimination between boys and girls is prevalent in our society. Now I speak against these things rather than ignore them.  

One of the memorable moments was when I got recognition for my work. I received an award and a certificate from the Safe Campus team. My family was very happy and they excitedly showed them to their relatives.”

Yogita Kharade (Class 10th)
Niyojeet Pr. Sec. & Jnr College, Sangavi, Phaltan

“I used to feel shy and fearful when I had to get out of home for anything. Frequent news of rapes had instilled fear in me about my safety. It lowered my self-confidence also. 

During the past few months, since I got connected with the Safe Campus project, I can say that I have changed. Now I am less scared of going out because I know my rights and I am aware about harassment. 

Earlier, women used to do only household chores but now women are working in different fields e.g. doctors and engineers etc. This is a big change but still today also women have to take permission from someone or the other to go out or study or do a job etc. 

Since I became a Young Girl Leader, I have started believing that girls can achieve anything they want, the same as boys. 

I look forward eagerly for each session of Safe Campus and I will do my best to spread this knowledge to others also.”

Child Safety Campaign

The Child Safety Campaign which draws to a close this month, received an overwhelming response. Within the span of a month, almost 200 driven and committed volunteers from all over the country, reached out to more than 600 children, their parents and caregivers speaking to them about Child Safety.

The children were asked to do an activity after listening to the volunteers. They used their innate creativity to express their understanding of what safety meant to them and what they expected from their parents to keep them safe through the medium of art, poetry and stories.

SafeCircle

SafeCircle is a safe listening circle for survivors of violence and trauma to find support. 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.

Intern Talks –  Charu

“My experience of working with Red Dot Foundation in their Safecity Champion Campaign as well as Community Champion Campaign has been truly astounding. The work culture and quality of environment here is welcoming to people who look forward towards making an effective change in society. Working as an intern for this Safecity Campaign has enabled a sense of leadership and communicational conduct in me. I have worked on studying various reports as well as researched backgrounds while going to places and exploring the root causes of harassment as well as sexual abuse amongst men and women. This campaign has been quite engaging and informative for a person like me who loves to forecast towards a unique remodelled society.”

Key points to understand through data

Click here to see the Safecity Data Graphics for the month of October.

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.

Report an incident on Safecity Platform

Download Safecity App on iOS Devices

Download Safecity App on Android Devices

Our impact in the year 2020-2021:

• 450 workshops and virtual events conducted
• 10,000 people attended our workshops
• 1200 Youth Leaders mentored
• 10,000 personal reports added to our database
• 500,000 indirect beneficiaries

We continue to grow everyday as we empower individuals and communities to create safer public and private spaces for all. Read the entire report – Annual Report for 2020-2021.

Upcoming Events  

• 10 Nov – 7 pm IST – COP26 – WUC Climate Action Urban Thinkers Campus learning event on Addressing Vulnerability.  
• 19 Nov – 00:32 IST – Social Inclusion Lightning Talks – We will be presenting at Google’s Geo for Good Summit. Register here.
• 25 Nov – 10 Dec – 16 Days of Activism to end Gender-Based Violence – Follow us on social media.
• 8 Nov – 8 Dec – Registration for Data Challenge for Women’s Safety. Register here.
• 25 Nov to 3 Dec – R U Safe? Design Challenge on making safer streets for everyone – Register here.
• 25 Nov – 6 pm IST – She Is book launch. Register here.
• Tweetchats every Friday at 9 pm IST on Twitter at @TheSafecityApp.

Ongoing Events

• Safety Champion Campaign
• Safe Campus Project, Phaltan, Satara
• Community Champion Campaign