Brief
An all-girls team consisting of myself, Meaghan Barone and Simone Baur-Schmid decided to tackle OpenIDEO’s inaugural Women’s Safety challenge as part of our Human Centered Design subject.
OpenIDEO asked all participants to consider the following question: How can low-income urban areas be made safer and more empowering for women and girls?
Process
We began by breaking down the topic of women’s safety, and looking at all aspects of the matter that we found interesting or that we wished could be further addressed as a whole. The infamous gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi sparked international debate about women’s rights in India. As a group, we felt very strongly about this topic. We were also inspired by a report by local women’s rights group Jagori and Women in Cities International, that linked gender safety in India to unsafe access to sanitation. I contacted and we interviewed Kathryn Travers, the Director of Programmes of Women in Cities International, and her insight into the report and her work was a big influence on us.
Research Round
For the Research round in the OpenIDEO challenge, we contributed our transcript of the interview with Kathryn, as well as a video summarising our research. I wrote the copy for the research video, created the infographics and animations, typeset and edited the final version.
Concept
Accessing safe sanitation is a major challenge for Indian women living in urban slums. Our concept proposes lighting up routes to communal bathrooms using photoluminescent paint. Accompanying collateral includes notification posters, welcoming the local community to planning sessions, as well as information booklets informing local women and the community about the project and its benefits.
Result
Prakasa was a finalist in OpenIDEO’s inaugural challenge.