Mandate Democratic Student Bodies in all Colleges
The Issue
For most of us who have had the opportunity to go to colleges, they became an extension of our identity. We spend most of our adolescent life navigating that space, building relationships with people, making friends, honing our personality, questioning and finding answers to everything under the sun and ultimately shaping our young minds.
Unfortunately, it is not a thriving experience for all.
For Shreya*, menstruation was a stigmatizing experience and she was unable to find safe spaces to talk about it with her peers and professors.
Vishal* faced gender based violence and was stalked, made to feel unwelcome and uncomfortable, and harassed because of their gender identity.
For Neha*, late evening classes meant anxiety since she would have to negotiate that with her parents, who were concerned for her safe trip back home.
Meenakshi* laments the loss of relaxed places to hangout and unwind with her friends, because when they go to the eating joints right outside her college, they are met with stares and are judged for their clothes.
* names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.
How does this make you feel? Angry, confused, helpless, or indifferent?
What if we tell you, there is a way to challenge all this and create a safe and gender inclusive college? And you have a role to play in that.
Youth is the nation’s powerhouse, the future. To have a future of hope and growth, each one of us needs to play our part in nurturing and empowering them. Higher education campuses play an integral role in developing the power of the youth. That is precisely how we at Durga feel and in order to empower the youth, we started our work within institutions for education. With the support of the management we assisted in the creation and formation of democratic student bodies within colleges and universities. As of February 2022, we have about 12 active voice labs across Bangalore and Assam.
Durga is a solution oriented organization and our intervention within colleges follows a similar approach. We interact with students enabling and empowering them to take responsibility and action, when witnessing an issue or a problem.
Success of our pilot project - Safe Spaces in College - VOICE (Vision, Opportunity, Ideas, Community, Empathy)
Our Voice labs have been spaces for students to come together, unlearn the stereotypical regressive social construction and together learn and strengthen a gendered intersectional lens.
Durga’s pilot project of panic alarms in BMTC buses was designed and created by the Voice community at MS Ramaiah Institute of Technologies. This was then readily adopted by the Transport Ministries in Bengaluru and Delhi, and became a part of 200 BMTC buses in Bengaluru and 10 DIMTS buses in Delhi.
Key chain alarm to alert active bystanders developed by Dayanand Sagar engineering college.
RNSIT College Voice Lab developed an innovative app to bring attention to all the Active Bystanders in a locality to intervene during sexual harassamnet in public spaces.
See the power of a group of determined young people!
Over the past 5 years of collaborating and working together with college students we can attest to the fact that the youth have the power to create change and come up with strong solutions for current socio-cultural issues. All they need is agency and a Voice to create that change.
Isn't that the very role of education? The voice champions in these colleges take responsibility for gender equity in their campus and support one another.
Demand
Just imagine if students in all colleges were given a space to unlearn, reflect and learn, a democratized space to freely voice their concerns and opinions. A space to truly belong and develop their journey as leaders.
Along with the youth, we demand the educational authority to mandate democratic student bodies in all colleges. The members of these student bodies shall be given appropriate capacity building opportunities and shall shoulder the responsibility of creating safe gender equitable spaces on campus.
Sign this petition to demand for more such spaces, Voice Labs, in your colleges. Demand for safe spaces for the youth of our country, because they are our present and future.
Fight for a democratic student body in colleges.
Demand for your Voice NOW!
The Issue
For most of us who have had the opportunity to go to colleges, they became an extension of our identity. We spend most of our adolescent life navigating that space, building relationships with people, making friends, honing our personality, questioning and finding answers to everything under the sun and ultimately shaping our young minds.
Unfortunately, it is not a thriving experience for all.
For Shreya*, menstruation was a stigmatizing experience and she was unable to find safe spaces to talk about it with her peers and professors.
Vishal* faced gender based violence and was stalked, made to feel unwelcome and uncomfortable, and harassed because of their gender identity.
For Neha*, late evening classes meant anxiety since she would have to negotiate that with her parents, who were concerned for her safe trip back home.
Meenakshi* laments the loss of relaxed places to hangout and unwind with her friends, because when they go to the eating joints right outside her college, they are met with stares and are judged for their clothes.
* names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.
How does this make you feel? Angry, confused, helpless, or indifferent?
What if we tell you, there is a way to challenge all this and create a safe and gender inclusive college? And you have a role to play in that.
Youth is the nation’s powerhouse, the future. To have a future of hope and growth, each one of us needs to play our part in nurturing and empowering them. Higher education campuses play an integral role in developing the power of the youth. That is precisely how we at Durga feel and in order to empower the youth, we started our work within institutions for education. With the support of the management we assisted in the creation and formation of democratic student bodies within colleges and universities. As of February 2022, we have about 12 active voice labs across Bangalore and Assam.
Durga is a solution oriented organization and our intervention within colleges follows a similar approach. We interact with students enabling and empowering them to take responsibility and action, when witnessing an issue or a problem.
Success of our pilot project - Safe Spaces in College - VOICE (Vision, Opportunity, Ideas, Community, Empathy)
Our Voice labs have been spaces for students to come together, unlearn the stereotypical regressive social construction and together learn and strengthen a gendered intersectional lens.
Durga’s pilot project of panic alarms in BMTC buses was designed and created by the Voice community at MS Ramaiah Institute of Technologies. This was then readily adopted by the Transport Ministries in Bengaluru and Delhi, and became a part of 200 BMTC buses in Bengaluru and 10 DIMTS buses in Delhi.
Key chain alarm to alert active bystanders developed by Dayanand Sagar engineering college.
RNSIT College Voice Lab developed an innovative app to bring attention to all the Active Bystanders in a locality to intervene during sexual harassamnet in public spaces.
See the power of a group of determined young people!
Over the past 5 years of collaborating and working together with college students we can attest to the fact that the youth have the power to create change and come up with strong solutions for current socio-cultural issues. All they need is agency and a Voice to create that change.
Isn't that the very role of education? The voice champions in these colleges take responsibility for gender equity in their campus and support one another.
Demand
Just imagine if students in all colleges were given a space to unlearn, reflect and learn, a democratized space to freely voice their concerns and opinions. A space to truly belong and develop their journey as leaders.
Along with the youth, we demand the educational authority to mandate democratic student bodies in all colleges. The members of these student bodies shall be given appropriate capacity building opportunities and shall shoulder the responsibility of creating safe gender equitable spaces on campus.
Sign this petition to demand for more such spaces, Voice Labs, in your colleges. Demand for safe spaces for the youth of our country, because they are our present and future.
Fight for a democratic student body in colleges.
Demand for your Voice NOW!
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Petition created on 25 February 2022