B.SAFE is the new mantra

Close your eyes. Imagine yourself walking down a road, dark, deserted, eerie, and suddenly somebody comes up and harasses you. Open your eyes. Scared?

This is the reality of almost every third woman in India. How wonderful if women could be trained to access awareness, knowledge and tools to make the streets and other public spaces safe for them?

This is what the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) is striving to do with its B.SAFE Constituency Programme, a platform where passionate and dedicated women will be trained to access tools, engage with authorities to bridge the huge void in women’s and societal safety.

There are already 45 B.SAFE ambassadors in Mahadevapura and Malleshwaram Constituencies.

B.PAC is now focusing on a safety audit of Hebbal and Dasarahalli constituencies and hopes to enrol at least 25 ambassadors in each of the constituencies between February and March 2023.

“B.SAFE Constituency program is a unique mix of participation of different government agencies, experts, local communities and above all support from the elected representatives. The programme will certainly help in instilling confidence in women to move around freely and confidently without any fear,’’ Revathy Ashok, Honorary Trustee and CEO, B.PAC told North BangalorePost.

This platform will provide a safe space that engages domain experts, key stakeholders and police and politicians to create and conduct audits, community awareness programmes, action plans and advocacy.

Women ambassadors will have access to resources such as legal support, police stations, counselling centers and govt, schemes which can go to the deserving.

The core focus of the B.SAFE constituency is women in colleges, local communities and drivers of public transport to help seamlessly facilitate this dream for safety. It will also address on a large scale – through women ambassadors- cases of violence, abuse and societal neglect, including lack of streetlights that directly encourage harassment and violence.

The initiative hopes to build a network of dedicated women who use their strength and experience to uplift others. To apply click here https://bit.ly/bsafebangalore

B.SAFE has so far conducted safety audits in 250 public places and will encourage women to spearhead change by inspiring opportunities unlike ever before.

“B.SAFE Constituency is a well-planned and thought out initiative by B.PAC. It was a wonderful learning and empowering experience. We were exposed to all the relevant topics taught to us by senior experienced subject matter experts. I urge all women to go through this program and help build a safe Bengaluru”, says Indira Belde, B.SAFE Ambassador from Doddenakundi.

B.SAFE will also connect  with colleges where students will be educated on various topics, including sexual harassment and gender discrimination. The aim is to plant seeds of compassion, empathy and unity which holds a strong impact on the future of each constituency, and Bangalore city as a whole.

(By Maria Kuruvilla)