Safecity uses Twitter to crowdsource facts about public harassment
Safecity uses Twitter, to tackle anti-social behaviour, reducing crime and helping foster stronger communities.
Twitter the social media giant is helping vulnerable communities, even in emerging economies. Twitter is in a joint-venture with Safecity, a Mumbai-based non-profit organisation, to provide a live platform where personal stories can be shared and publicised about public harassment, anonymously.
Delhi gang rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16th December 2012, in Munrika, South Delhi, where a 23-year-old physiotherapy female intern, Joyti Singh Pandey was beaten and gang raped in a private bus in which she was travelling with a male friend Awindra Pratap Pandey. There were six others, in the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the girl and beat her friend. Thirteen days after the assault, she was transferred to a hospital in Singapore for emergency treatment where she succumbed to her injuries two days later. This incident caused widespread national and international coverage and was wildly condemned, both in India and aboard. Public protests followed against the state and central government for failing to provide adequate security for women and subsequently protesters clashed with security forces. The victim became “Nirbhaya” fearless and her life and death, now symbolizes women’ struggle to end rape and the practice of blaming the victim rather than the rapists. All the accused were subsequently arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused, Ram Singh died in police custody on 11th March 2013 in the Tihar Jail. A trial in a fast-track court where a juvenile accused was convicted of rape and murder and given the maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment in a reform facility. On 10 September 2013, the four remaining adult defendants were found guilty of rape and murder and three days later were sentenced to death by hanging. On 13 March 2014, Delhi High Court after bearing appeals against the conviction by the lower court , upheld guilty verdict and the death sentences. A judicial committee was set up to study and take public suggestions for the best way to amend laws to provide faster investigation and prosecution of sex offenders. In 2013, the Criminal Law Amendment ordinance 2013 was passed by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, several new laws were passed and six new fast-track courts were created to hear rape cases.
Pratiksha Rao, Twitters’s head of media partnership for South East Asia said “the campaign, which commenced on October 27, 2015, will initially give much needed help to women in New Delhi, Mumbai and Goa, with strong support from the police departments in these cities, gradually spreading to the rest of India. This will enable more effective measures by local authorities to protect women. This will also encourage more women to come forward and share their ordeal and report physical and mental trauma at the hands of stalkers and other anti-social elements. They can confident that their voice will be heard and appropriate action will be taken.”
Safecity’s co-founder Elsa D’Silva, a trained counsellor, who has been focusing on women and youth empowerment in the area of gender based violence, said “the campaign is primarily focused on changing misconceptions pertaining to women’s safety and apply real-world solutions. In the past three years of working in this area, the biggest challenge we face is that not all cases of sexual harassment cases go unreported. By giving opportunity with a live public platform like Twitter, which with 316 million monthly active users, will encourage more women to speak their mind and share their experiences about public harassment and prompt others to take decisive action.”
Users can Tweet to @safecityIndia#, as this will protect their privacy and not reveal the identity of the source of the tweet to public. Users can get automated response from the Safecity team, confirming that they have received their grievance. Crowd-source maps, a customised dashboard to filter and organize the received data, story trends and hotspots on an online Map, and provides safety guide to local authorities and the needy.