‘Create an eco-system to stop the assaults’

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As a society, we have momentary outbursts of emotions that last as long as the next breaking news comes forth. It takes a gruesome heart-wrenching incident of violence like that of Nirbhaya or Asifa or Abhaya to make us raise our voices. I am not referring to NGOs or activists or even a handful of conscious citizens. This is about the entire nation and every stakeholder, families, friends, influencers, civic authorities, politicians and law enforcers. All of them seem to wake up for a bit, and then go back into complacency.

Gender factor

The Kolkata hospital didn't have basic amenities and doctors were forced to work long hours with hardly a decent place to rest or take a break. Who is checking these hospitals for infrastructure from a gender and safety perspective? We may have the odd check when it comes to physical infrastructure, to repair something that has broken down. What we really need is audits from a gender safety perspective. For example, functional, hygienic toilets for women and men, demarcated rest areas for working women and men within the premises, inaccessible to outsiders. That should be the baseline for every government and public space, where ‘gender safety', not just safety, needs to be ensured.

Post Kolkata, there has been a case in Badlapur. Schools must do background checks with rigour, even for those hired on a contractual basis. Even when laws are in place, we hardly witness any penalties for flouting or not implementing them. When people see that there are lawbreakers getting away with impunity, then that emboldens others or makes them dismissive or flippant about the possibility of any repercussions. Hence stricter laws and their stringent implementation are required to deter offenders.

At all levels

What we need in this country is change at different levels of society. First and foremost, we need to educate our boys if we really want to solve the problem of Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV). Teaching our boys consent is integral to this. We must include gender sensitivity and sex education in our education system.

Media and Bollywood play an important role when it comes to education of children and youth. There is content being created that sometimes glorifies toxic relationships under the ‘garb' of love. When superstars and influencers enact these roles, the youth imbibes such behaviour, not understanding that in reality these are criminal offences. We need art appreciation courses as a mandatory part of the education system. This will equip youth to be mindful while consuming content.

Cohesive unit

We have laws and systems of redressal, but if we want to preemptively stop such heinous crimes then the government, NGOs, civic authorities and law enforcers need to work together with ordinary citizens, to ensure we create a future where SGBV is not a pandemic. The systemic change needs to be top-driven as well as implemented on the ground level.

It is not easy for NGOs or activists to find their space, working with the law enforcers for instance. Yet, we have to create that space, keep turning up consistently, with data showing why there is a cause for concern, which places are dangerous, timings, trends… provide solid proof which shows that attention is needed.

We, at the Red Dot Foundation, launched Safecity after the Nirbhaya protest to make a change and increase reporting of such crimes in public spaces. The Safecity app gives individuals an anonymous and always-accessible online platform to complain or report an incident, as a victim or an observer. These reports are visible to law enforcement authorities. When one person speaks out, it emboldens others to speak out and we can then start the process of designing solutions.

At Red Dot Foundation, we are trying to end SGBV through education advocacy and crowdsourced data. As part of our work, we conduct ‘bystander intervention' programs for the lay public, to make them understand what they can do as a bystander, if they witness any such violence. We help them to steer one away from the "I do not want to get involved" attitude, and teach people what to do, or how to intervene safely.

We have an initiative called 'Safety Champions' where we train youth to talk to peers, friends, and families about gender, sensitivity, violence, and stereotypes. We need to harness the power of collaboration. As an NGO, we work closely with law enforcement agencies, civic authorities, corporates, educational institutions, NGOs and communities, and our collaboration has seen impact. It goes to show that together is the way ahead; we need to create an entire ecosystem to truly turn the tide and bring an end to this violence.

The columnist is a filmmaker, co-founder and CEO, Red Dot Foundation. Red Dot Foundation works in the space of gender equity, safety and justice.