The story behind Saahas

Survivors who have faced violence either don’t know where to go for help, or don’t have resources to find out where to go for help. Sometimes, their situation prevents them from finding help, and that can be extremely dangerous to their safety. Research by the Red Elephant Foundation found that many women couldn’t search forresources online due to search engine trails that they couldn’t always successfully erase. Furthermore, many women were unsure of the credibility of the organizations themselves. Recognizing the gap in access, The Red Elephant Foundation chose technology as a means to intervene and assist access. Saahas has been coded and structured entirely by the founder, Kirthi Jayakumar, and resources have been found, verified and placed on the map by a dedicated team of volunteers from around the world.

Saahas offers a survivor and a bystander:

A one-click platform that can be accessed from anywhere to identify the nearest provider of services for a survivor. Instead of Googling services and leaving a trail where one remains in a vulnerable situation, this one-link- access is easy to delete from browser histories.

A glimpse to aid workers and donors to identify areas that don’t have resources altogether or resources of a particular kind, so that they may device appropriate intervention strategies.

A comfortable space for inter-organizational collaboration and referral, where organizations can help survivors in other countries access help, or, can refer survivors who come to them, to others to respond to particular needs.

Saahas is a one-stop-spot for all kinds of assistance and support that a survivor of GBV may seek. The app comprises four parts.

GBV Help Map
The GBV Help Map comprises verified public and private providers offering services to survivors such as:

Legal Facilities

Medical Facilities

Resources (Food, Shelter, Clothing)

Education and Employment

Police Services

Ambulance Services

Consulates and Embassies

Refugee-specific GBV support

Child support

The map is available as a searchable directory. In addition, it also has a list-based directory of country-wise support for survivors. You may click on the country of your choice, and copy down / save screenshots of all the listings for future offline use, as well.

The GBV Library

The GBV Library offers a comprehensive overview of information on Gender-Based Violence, tips on how to handle gender-based violence when faced with it, and templates for safety plans. It helps understand what a survivor should do when faced with sexual assault, what plans to put in place and how to seek help when the occasion arises. It also has a detailed instructions on what a bystander can do to help.