CHENNAI: In the aftermath of the New Delhi gangrape case in 2012, when the world was trying to understand what made a rapist, then 21-year-old Sandhiyan Thilagavathy would insinuate through videos he posted on Facebook that public apathy and the consequent inaction enabled these perpetrators. For Sandhiyan, passersby take on a significant importance in such incidents, as their timely intervention can prevent crimes.
That is also what he spreads awareness about through his organisation AWARE (Awareness for Wo+Men to Advocate for their Rights through Equality), which was conceived on Facebook in 2013, when Sandhiyan would post write ups on instances of common people tackling gender-based violence.
For Sandhiyan, no stakeholder is a small cog in the wheel. During the process of chalking out a plan for AWARE, Sandhiyan recollects volunteers and stakeholders passing the buck to each other. That is when he realised the need for comprehensive participation of each stakeholder.
“Because if we miss out one critical person from this network, we end up enabling the issue all over again,” he tells TNIE.
According to the former IT professional, the initiative finds its roots in Sandhiyan’s childhood. Having been brought up only by women, starting from his grandmother, and then mother and sisters, Sandhiyan says he inherited the lore of untoward incidents and inappropriate behaviour towards women.
Initially a social media page, AWARE catapulted into a proper platform after Sandhiyan began networking with volunteers and collaborated with NGOs, all while juggling his job as a techie at TCS. To propel his endeavour, Sandhiyan transitioned from the technical department to a corporate social responsibility (CSR) position, which resulted in online campaigns such as ‘Assure Our Girls’ Future.’
After three years of social media maneuvering, learning, and unlearning, Sandhiyan decided to take his initiatives offline, in 2015. He took up AWARE full time and quit his job in 2017. After putting together his own team, he organised campaigns such as ChildlineSeDosti, Menstruation OpenWalk, Child Safety Education, Safe and Unsafe Behaviours instead of Good Touch - Bad Touch, Mental Health, and focused on the POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences) and PoSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace) Act. Right now, AWARE is on a mission to reach 10 lakh children by November 19, 2024, World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse.
AWARE also conducts psychology-based self-defence workshops called EMPOWER, designed with 60% focus on mindfulness theories, nuances and strategies that can empower a woman mentally, and 40% on physical techniques. This, later snowballed into the She4Her movement, wherein trained professionals imparted training to other women, and so on.
“So far, we have trained 6,500 girls across 24 schools, 13 colleges, 17 corporations, and six communities,” Sandhiyan says with pride.
At one point, AWARE had hit a roadblock with the slum clearance housing board while conducting an awareness drive about child marriages and women empowerment. Undeterred, Sandhiyan and his team executed a five-week awareness campaign on child rights, and went on to establish a holistic community development programme with a focus on education.
These outreach programmes, Sandhiyan says, opened his eyes to the existence of crimes in the garb of geography-specific cultural practices.
“For example, in Chemmenchery when we had conducted a childline visibility campaign in 2015. The locals claimed that they got their girls married early due to safety concerns. In 2022, we worked with tribal girl students of the Kalvarayan Hills in Kallakurichi. Their excuse was to preserve their tradition. In 2023, we collaborated with Dindigul’s district administration to address child marriage, and received reports of young girls choosing to marry early because of peer pressure,” he explains.
At present, AWARE is based in Chennai, and primarily functions in the districts of Chennai, Chengalpet, Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram. Collaborations over programmes on sexual health, however, have been extended to the district administrations of Kallakurichi, Kanniyakumari, and Dindigul.
Sandhiyan’s journey, however, has not been without its own challenges. Plans had to be worked and redrawn based on responses from target groups.
“In Kallakurichi, for instance, the comprehending skills of the girls that we had worked with, posed as a challenge for us. To create a better model for reinforcement, we gave them books on topics, based on which we conducted literary events. Participation increased manifold. Taking note of this experience, we then added a safe space library to the list of AWARE initiatives,” Sandhiyan tells TNIE.
At the end of the day, Sandhiyan believes that it all comes down to the family and the home. Calling safety a collective effort, he says, “One of the reasons why children don’t open up to their parents about abuse is because of a lack of trust. Respect how they feel; only then will they feel secure and confident enough to confide in you.”
He also believes that it is possible to create a safe space for everyone, since “it is us who bring up both the perpetrator and the victim.”
To be part of AWARE’s mission of creating safe spaces, contact Sandhiyan at 81243 54921
(Edited by Shrija Ganguly)