What
We Do?
Consequences are lifelong and traumatic
Personal Safety Education program
Violation of our personal space, body and trust can have significant impact on us – as we grow up, in the way we perceive and experience this world. Our responsibility as caregiving adults is to participate and safeguard our child’s safety. At Swaraksha, PSE has been a top priority. We initiate conversations, create an environment of comfort and offer them a safe space for disclosures. We also take every step towards spreading awareness, and also offer effective prevention and healing approaches.
Self- Defense
Self- Defense is a lifestyle. Self-defense focuses on teaching all of verbal, psychological and physical self-defense techniques. While physical defense is using physical force to counteract or defend against an attack, psychological defense focuses on physical, emotional and mental readiness to tackle a situation. We have tie-ups with licensed and trained self-defense instructors to support children and adults stay mentally and physically agile to manage any situation they face.
Mental Health Matters
Mental Health has been of utmost priority to us. Mental Health is as much important as physical health. It refers to cognitive (thinking), behavioral (act), and emotional (feeling) well-being. That is, it is all about how people think, feel, and behave. Mental health is not merely absence of a mental disorder. Mental health determines how we manage our daily living or functioning, how we handle stress, how we relate to others, the decisions or choices we make. It includes physical, emotional, social, intellectual, self-care, boundaries etc…. Our workshops specifically cater to these topics keeping in mind holistic well-being; be it a child, adolescent, adult or an elderly person.
Gender Sensitization
A child is never born with presumptions. It is we who feed them with predetermined beliefs of inequalities and differences. Gender roles and stereotyping can be really harmful in that it limits the ability of a person to live and function, in making choices, in pursuing a career, taking up a passion etc. Gender sensitization has to start from us. Without being sensitive to the needs of a gender, a person may refrain from understanding the opposite gender properly. Sensitization helps individuals understand the difference between sex and gender, how it is socially constructed, about the stereotypes and gender roles. It also helps us in understanding what are the assumptions related to the concept.
Cyber Health and Etiquettes
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” has always been a sentence to treasure and uphold, when it comes to cyber world- Meaning if you would not speak to the person in a way face to face, then you don’t do it online too. Cyber safety has always been a concern for parents and professionals alike. Making our little ones aware of what is acceptable with respect to the use of technology and what is not, is important. Our workshop goes one step forward to nourish the cyber health of children, making them practice etiquette properly and safely so that they remain secure in the digital world.
POSH & POCSO Workshops
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The Act extends to the “Whole of India”. It is only for the protection of “Women at Workplace” - The Act intends to provide protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment and for matters connected. Workplace Sexual Harassment is when the behavior is - _Unwelcome_Sexual in Nature_A Subjective Experience Sexual Harassment is a Criminal Offence. Organisation Shall Create a Workplace Free of Sexual Harassment. No Women Shall be Subjected to Sexual Harassment at any Workplace.
Child Rights & Protection
"Child rights are a set of ideals or principles. They are entitlements, and some of them are legally justifiable, but they are not tangible. One of these rights is protection. However, child protection is more than just a right. It is a framework or system through which a child's rights can be recognised. The framework is made up of various duty bearers such as government departments, police, schools, and civil society, all of whom have roles to play in ensuring that a child's rights are met, and that if a child's rights are violated, the violator is brought to justice and care is provided to the child". At Swaraksha, we stand to uphold these rights which are legally entitled to our little ones.
Setting Healthy Boundaries
Boundaries are those that make sure that we as individuals are mentally and emotionally stable. Boundaries are essential for healthy relationships, friendships, family life, occupational and interpersonal living. The right to own one’s own time, the ability to say no, ability to deal with negative energy, ability to communicate and remain true to our principles, freedom to express etc. are some of them. Elders should be role models for children. Children learn to set their own boundaries at an early age watching and learning from adult caretakers. At our NGO we reinforce these aspects which are very essential to protect one’s self-esteem, maintain self-respect and enjoy healthy relationships and friendships.
Body Positivity
Our body reflects the positivity of our mind and vice versa. So, to maintain positivity we need to feel good. From when a child is born, his or her mind is conditioned to give undue importance to the size, colour and shape of all bodily features that we have been blessed with. This results in wrong notions and creates an inferiority complex. In due course of time, we begin to believe these projected ideas. This prevents people from interacting with others. However, these notions can be changed if we focussed on those "big positives" rather than the "little imperfections" instead. How more pleasing would it be if a person was complimented on their “long beautiful fingers" rather than my "skinny arms"! Body Positivity has been a favourite topic, among the students, to converse on.
Special Needs and Self-help Skills
Children with additional needs deserve extra care and attention. They may have development delays, medical, psychiatric, or maybe, at times, congenital conditions. They may also have difficulties communicating to us. Hence, we as parents and professionals would be more concerned about them. Supporting them by teaching self-help skills is more of a necessity, so that they can also lead their lives peacefully and safely like the neurotypical children. Most often, we, as caregivers, concentrate both on academics as well as ADL activities i.e. activities of daily living. Along with this, it is also mandatory to teach them to be safe and also to communicate with us if they are in danger. We, at Swaraksha, have been associated with parents and caregivers of children needing assistance, in empowering them, through workshops, specifically designed for such children.
Digital Parenting
Pandemic has brought classrooms home and children/teens spend more time in the cyber space. While it provides umpteen opportunities it also raises apprehensions regarding many dangers lurking behind those screens. Cyber addiction has been a common topic most sought after pandemic era. It is not uncommon to see children falling prey to NOMOphobia, gadget addiction, screen time overuse, content fatigue, cyber bullying, online sexual exploitation, potentially harmful content online, risking the privacy of kids and teens. Our workshops help children become aware of the hazards existing in the cyber world. These sessions offer space for personal reflection, interaction and introspection. They are also trained to be mentally and emotionally agile, quick, and proactive.
Menstrual Myths and Hygiene
Our doctors sensitize children on many of the myths existing since ages, when it comes to menstruation. UNICEF has listed around 7 myths around menses that has to be ended so that they do not hold girls and women back from anything. This has been done to end any discrimination associated with menstruation. These workshops definitely give a safe space for young girls to shed their apprehension about periods and they are no longer limited on talking about it. The doctors also educated children on the hygiene aspects as well.
Substance Abuse – Saying no to drugs
Substances are freely available anywhere in our country these days. Children and adolescents are easily falling prey to these. They are first made carriers and then victims. Quite a few drugs sex rackets have been thriving through social media platforms targeting students. These have also been recently busted by law enforcement agencies. It is essential to educate and spread awareness on this. Case studies are presented in the form of stories to children and adolescents age appropriately by our legal professionals and medical professionals. Our tie-ups with governmental and nongovernmental organizations and sister concerns have been a great support in reaching out and helping children.
Swaraksha is an initiative towards Child Empowerment, upholding Child Rights, Safety and Protection, and against Child Sexual Abuse. Swaraksha is registered as a non-governmental organisation, operating from 2014.