AWARE INDIA

In our efforts towards creating safe spaces for everyone, everywhere with an approach of #CatchingThemYoung, we are partnered with the District Social Welfare Department of Nagapattinam under the leadership of District Collector himself launched a pilot initiative "இளவேனில் - Early Spring" envisioned by the DSWO to facilitate school based intervention program for the adolescent children towards comprehensive sexuality health education in the Higher Secondary Schools of Vedaranyam Block in Nagapattinam District

Last Sunday, our team initiated impactful community awareness and dialogue sessions in the Chitlapakkam Lake Park! 🗣️💬 Sensitizing residents about various forms of gender-biased violence and ensuring the safety of women at workspaces, we've used the powerful art medium of theatre to create awareness and activisim. This is going to be an ongoing weekly engagement at the park providing a space for everyone to read, unlearn, inquire about all the sensitive and much needed unspoken conversations through our #SafeSpaceLibrary books followed with an arts based form of sensitization on sensationalized issue in that week. We thank the team members who had tirelessly worked to pul off this initiative after contributing to the morning protest demanding safe workspaces for women at Valluvar Kottam followed with this initiative in the evening. Kudos to you all @jeevitha_raj18 @pret_viridiphile @loki_ny_ @ammu ramamoorthy @one_an_only_mp supported by @afi_here @jebe_agnes. We thank the @msw__sdnbvc for supporting this initiative by helping us with their student volunteers. Let's stand together, raise our voices, and create a safer space. Know that reporting GBV-related issues is crucial, and we're here to guide you through the channels. #EndGBV #safeworkspaces #CommunityAction #BreakTheSilence 🌈

Last Sunday, @voiceofpeople._ organized a public gathering as a call of protest #DoActNotReact in ensuring Women's Safety in ALL Workspaces on 25th August at Valluvar Kottam inviting all citizen-collectives, groups and concerned citizens coming together! The event was very well organized making it an informative one curating as thought provoking speeches of representatives from different sectors sharing their experiences, how law works and how they have made the system to listen to the demands in the past and made it as a legislation to serve everyone, installing hope and faith among everyone who joined. The event also had different art medium based sensitization of all participants with the powerful singing, theatre performances where we had an opportunity to perform a play about the importance of safety for women at workspaces with a reference to #yesallmen We thank everyone at @voiceofpeople._ , @poo_ranii of @thepenncollective and @iamsubhabala of @sexed_kk for giving us the platform to perform. Special mention to @sivanesakumaran for the illustrative placards Let's voice up for “Women’s Safety at Workplaces”! #DoActNotReact #Protest #WomensSafetyWomensRight

Kick like a girl, punch like a girl and absolutely fight like a girl - was an understatement when we witness the attitude, confidence and spirit of these little girls who took up charge to take care of their own safety themselves. Ending the #BeAGirl - Girl Child Empowerment Program which was running over 10 days @ Government Tribal Residential Higher Secondary School at Pathukani in Kanniyakumari District with a Self Defense Training Thanks to all the volunteers who were consistent enough to help these girls get the right knowledge, skills and tools to feel empowered. Jebe Agnes | Kokilavani Dhanasekaran | Afia Nazar | Karthikha Kumar | Sandhiyan Thilagavathy #BeAGirl #AssureOurGirlsFuture #SaveTheSmiles #EmpoweringGirls #GirlChildEmpowerment #WithGirlsForGirls #GirlForceUnscriptedAndUnstoppable #GirlsGetEqual #girlchild #girlchildeducation #educateagirlchild #girlchildhasarole #girlsmatters #adoptagirl #empoweringwomen #educategirls #NoMoreNirbhaya #fightlikeagirl #kicklikeagirl #punchlikeagirl #womenselfdefense #womenselfdefensetechniques #womenselfdefence #Empower #womensafety

Girl's voices are non-negotiable When we provide opportunities that nurtures and empowers them, they rule the world! Afia Nazar | Jebe Agnes | Kokilavani Dhanasekaran | Karthikha Kumar | Sandhiyan Thilagavathy #BeAGirl #GirlChildEmpowerment #GirlChild #CelebrateGirls #GirlUp #Potential #Unlock #Empowerment #ViolenceAgainstGirls #EndViolence #AWARE #SafeSpaces #SaveTheSmiles #AssureOurChildrensFuture #Awareness #Educate #Chennai #Volunteer #Volunteering #Children #Equality #HappyChildhood

Celebrating Raksha Bandhan isn't just about tying a thread. This Raksha Bandhan, let’s redefine women safety. It’s not just about brothers safeguarding sisters but everyone standing up for women’s safety & equality. It's about pledging to create safe spaces & respect the women in our lives. In a country where girls are unsafe, let's make this Rakhi a vow to stand up for their safety & rights, every day. Make a commitment to engage boys and men in communities, schools and colleges towards healthy masculinity towards violence prevention. https://r.give.do/4Hjwh8Rp

We cherish one another's hopes. We are kind to one another's dreams. All our hopes and dreams will define our girls' destiny towards safe spaces. And our commitment and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way. We hope you will empower us through your kind donations. Just remember, we have all the power to make a huge difference! If you're interested in helping us in any way, please reach out to us!

We believe that women’s self-defense training is more than just kicking and punching. We empower girls & women in three ways to combat crime: 1. By Engaging the Mind we help you identify and recognize early warning signals, criminal processes and how criminal mind operates; 2. By Educating the Body we teach you hands-on effective, easy to learn techniques that maximize damage while not relying on strength; and 3. By Empowering the Spirit we build your survival mindset to ensure your own personal safety. On 6th August, we had an opportunity to facilitate our workshop for the students of Shasun Jain College, Chennai organized by the She Cell Club of the college. We thank the faculty member, management and the student coordinators for organising this training. Come take advantage of our expertise in women's self-defense as we take you step-by-step through a process that is much easier than you think @Jeevitha Pushparaj | Afia Nazar | Sandhiyan Thilagavathy #nomorenirbhaya #empower #selfdefense #womenselfdefense #selfdefense #kravmaga #martialarts #training #kickboxing #selfdefenseforwomen #muaythai #womenempowerment #selfdefence #selfdefensetraining #workout #kidsselfdefense #boxing #kravmagatraining #fitness #karate #selfdefenseacademy #judo #martialartsacademy #urbanselfdefense #fight

In all our lives, we are incredibly fortunate if we have even one person to stand up for the vision we hold, encouraging us to explore and travel the road less taken. Ever since AWARE started to explore programs away from Chennai, Kokilavani Dhanasekaran have always been our person. You are the safe haven not just for us, but for many thousands of children whom we work for. You always understood our vision in ways that most others couldn’t, providing us the confidence to try something new, and grow in. You are the one we are most excited to explore our works integrated different art mediums to impact the children better. Whether it was a performing puppetry skill that it was so delightful to watch or the bottle art or CD art or crafts at office or the instagram collaborative art sharing, you always made us feel like we had this incredible gift of creation that needed to be shared with the world. We are blessed to be an audience to listen to your story telling sessions, entirely taking us to your fictitious world. Even when you had your own life struggle, you always found a way to be an anchor through all of the storms. Thank you for being yourself by not drowning in anyone else’s expectations. We wish more people cared the way that you do. Thank you for always making every child feel seen and heard and celebrated for being exactly who they are. Thank you for consistently encouraging every team member in the areas that others often took for granted, and for acknowledging every damn flower that finally decided to bloom. Thank you for everything in this one year and for many more years to come with us!

Teaching boys to embrace, and name their emotions, is an important part of raising positive masculine young men. Teaching boys to explore and understand their emotions could provide a much-needed antidote to the dangerous trend of emotional suppression, and the anger that it leads to. By exploring the emotions and the thought bubbles that generate them, boys can gain a deeper understanding of themselves and others. This process requires patience, curiosity, and compassion, steering away from cultural expectations and towards a more holistic and healthier comprehension of emotions. Emotion is a complex interplay between perception, belief, experience, relationship, and even the impact of culture. The task ahead is to encourage boys to navigate this emotional landscape with courage and openness. It is a call to allow boys to feel their full range of emotions, not just the culturally accepted ones. #awareindia #safespaces #creatingsafespaces #sexeducation #sexed #comprehensivesexualityhealtheducation #unmasc #processingemotions #raisingemotionalboys #sensitiveboys #positivemasculinity #masculineboys #skilldevelopment #TNSkillDevelopment #TNSocialWelfare #consent #boundaries #communication #conflict #relationships #friends #safety #autonomy #interdependence #codependence