Bystander action initiative calls for volunteers to make Bengaluru safer

A city-based non-profit is pushing for active participation in their bystander action initiative to make the city safer.

Jayanagar-based NGO Durga India’s ‘Durgas Are Real-heroes Everywhere’ (DARE) initiative was started in 2019.

In 2015, they installed panic alarms in 200 buses. Their success proved to them that bystander action initiatives work, says the NGO’s founder Priya Varadarajan.

“DARE works with volunteers who work in public spaces. These include male and female street vendors, security guards, pourakarmikas, traffic police officers, BMTC drivers and conductors, gas delivery agents, and auto and cab drivers.”

Durga India’s team trains these volunteers for around 21 days. “With street vendors, we engage on an individual basis. We interact with them on casual topics, before moving on to explain what qualifies as harassment,” she says.

The team explains to vendors how keeping the area safe will also invite more customers.

“From educating them about laws around sexual violence to helping women hail autorickshaws, the team sensitises the DARE candidates to several topics. These volunteers are felicitated with certificates and medals at the end of the training,” she adds.

By Day 21, the team trains the volunteers on who to engage with, how to escalate an issue and to whom, and how to stay safe while helping someone.

“Simple gestures like coughing or asking the person in trouble what the time is can make the perpetrator aware of his surroundings,” she explains.

When training pourakarmikas, cab drivers, BMTC drivers and conductors, and traffic police, the NGO connects with their governing authorities, and trains them in groups. “We educate them using videos, theatre workshops, posters, and question and answer sessions,” Priya adds.

Around 4,500 DARE volunteers have been trained until now. They are largely located in south Bengaluru in areas like Yediyur, Jayanagar, J P Nagar, Banashankari, Tilak Nagar, MICO Layout, BTM Layout, and Konanakunte Cross.  

Durga plans to partner with the city’s police stations to extend the initiative to other parts of the city.

“We hope that an IT company will partner with us to consolidate information about existing volunteers. We do call the volunteers up every few months and ask for updates from their locations,” Priya explains.

To participate or for details, visit durgaindia.org or write to [e-mail]