Red Dot Foundation is a United Nations ECOSOC-accredited non-profit that works on gender equity, safety and justice. Safecity, its flagship program is a mobile and web platform that crowdsources personal stories of sexual harassment and abuse in public spaces. Safecity data, which can be anonymous, gets aggregated as hot spots on a map indicating trends at a local level. The strategy is to make this data useful for individuals, communities, and local governments to identify factors that lead to violence and to improve public safety. Red Dot Foundation aims to make cities safer by encouraging equal access to public and private spaces for everyone, especially women and girls, through the use of education, advocacy, crowdsourced data, community engagement and institutional accountability.
Crowdsourced Data Collection
We collect data on incidents of sexual harassment and violence through crowd-sourced mapping. This data is used to identify trends, hotspots, and areas that require attention.
Mapping and Visualization
Utilizing the data collected, we create maps and visualizations to highlight areas with higher incidences of sexual harassment.
Community Engagement
We actively engage with communities, conducting awareness campaigns and workshops to educate people about sexual harassment, consent, and safety measures.
At Red Dot Foundation, our commitment to gender equality goes beyond just one day—it’s a movement we drive every day. This International Women’s Day, we marked the occasion with impactful initiatives that championed safety, empowerment, and systemic change.
From announcing new projects like Safer Haryana in partnership with the Haryana Police to ElsaMarie D’Silva’s collaboration with Poverty Stoplight on the power of crowdsourced data, this International Women’s Day was all about driving real change. We hosted a Safecity X Space conversation on modern feminism, exploring intersectionality and digital activism, and joined the global movement with the 10th edition of the Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walk in Mumbai, fostering leadership and mentorship.
While International Women’s Day brings global attention to gender equality, we believe in sustaining this momentum every day—through data, advocacy, and community-driven action.
Media Features
| Women in the world: Making the Invisible Visible with Crowdsourced Data “Data collected on gender-based violence and poverty remove women’s experiences from the story and often fail to reflect the lived reality of millions. But what if women themselves could shape the data that drives policy? What if their experiences were not just numbers but undeniable evidence?" In honour of IWD2025, ElsaMarie D'Silva, Founder & President of Red Dot Foundation, collaborated with Julia Corvalan, PhD, Global Operations Manager at Poverty Stoplight to highlight how platforms like Safecity and Poverty Stoplight are transforming personal stories into powerful data that demands action. | | --- | | Read More |
| JLUF WHAIAfrica Mentor Igboukwu Women on Health As part of activities marking International Women’s Day 2025, John and Lucy Umenwa Foundation (JLUF), in partnership with WHAIAfrica, has launched a mentorship initiative to educate women in Igboukwu, Nigeria on essential health practices.
Orjime Moses writes “Additionally, WHAIAfrica’s executive director, Nkechi Udegboka, educated participants on various forms of gender-based violence (GBV), including physical, psychological, sexual, and socio-economic abuse, as well as harmful traditional practices.
| She also introduced them to the SafeCity app, developed by India’s Red Dot Foundation, which allows users to anonymously report GBV cases. WHAIAfrica is piloting the app in Nigeria, and participants received handbills detailing its usage. |
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| Safer cities hold the key to women’s wellbeing
Addressing violence against women necessitates a multifaceted approach that integrates grassroots mobilisation with decentralised governance, underpinned by suitable institutional arrangements and system strengthening
| Lalita Panicker writes “A Woman’s Place is in a Safe City, a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Data+Feminism Lab in collaboration with Point of View, Red Dot Foundation, and several Kolkata-based civil society organisations, gives us some insights. The study found that under the Safe City Project, 46% of the Nirbhaya Fund is allocated to surveillance and policing. |
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| Enough is enough —we need safer cities for women "Private foundations, such as the Red Dot Foundation, collect anonymous data on street harassment, even recording the type of harassment, the time of the incident, and the location." In her recent article, Mitali Nikore, Founder & Chief Economist, Nikore Associate, reflects on the journey from Nirbhaya to Abhaya, highlighting that while progress has been made, it is far from enough. She points out a crucial gap: the lack of in-depth data analysis on crimes against women in public spaces.
| Data from the Safecity app is more than just numbers—it’s a catalyst for change. By transforming insights into action, we can build safer, more inclusive communities where every woman feels secure. |
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