TOKYO January/6/2023
Gawain (Location: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo / Representative: Masayoshi Sakurai / hereinafter referred to as "Gawain"), a NPO developing methods to eradicate women rape in slums, conducted a randomized controlled trial known as RCT method in collaboration with Tsukuba University for 6 months from May 2022 to evaluate the impact of its own developed rape prevention method. Today, we are pleased to announce the preliminary results of the study.
The Project Background
Gawain spent about 4 years developing a rape prevention method to be used in the slums of India, called the CSD method (Community Self-Defense Method). To verify the effectiveness of its method, as we mentioned in the above, Gawain partnered with Tsukuba University to conduct a six-month randomized controlled trial in the city of Delhi from May 2022 to November 2022. More than 2,000 women and children from 502 families living in the Ravidas, Hanuman, and Parvatiya camps participated in the study.
Preliminary Figures
A comparison of sex crime rates over the six-month period before and after implementation of the CSD method showed that attempted rape was reduced from 10 cases to 0, and other forms of sexual violencewere reduced from 11 cases to 0. In addition, other sex crimes such as stalking and the use of obscene language both decreased by 90%, theft of clothing and underwear decreased by 58%, both voyeurism and indecent exposure decreased by 92%, and physical contact without permission decreased by 88%. On average the preliminary figures showed an approximate decrease of 87% in sex crimes in the targeted slum areas.
※These are the preliminary results, not the results from the randomized controlled trial.
Based on these improvements, we are planning to launch a larger scale project in January 2023 targeting other slums in Delhi.
About the CSD method
The CSD method focuses on the compatibility between the " slum area's environmental characteristics" and "sound," to establish a self-defense system triggered by a crime prevention buzzer. This is designed to be as simple and affordable as possible to be implemented by anyone, anywhere, anytime. The CSD method consists of four simple steps.
1. Distribution: Gathered women living in the slums and distributed personal alarms to mothers in each household. We teach them how to use it and what the alarm sounds like and pledge that everyone who hears the alarm will rush to the scene.
2. Sound: The most common place for rape crimes is indoors. Place it in an obvious place in your house. Hold it in your hand as soon as you feel danger, and sound the alarm in case of emergency. The alarm can be taken out of the house at the mother's judgment when going out at night etc.
3. Unite: Everyone who hears the alarm will rush to the scene. Ideally, the offender should escape with only the alarm, but just in case, this is done to interrupt the crime. The greater the sense of unity, the harder it will be to commit crimes there, and the fewer crimes there will be.
4. Improvement: The person who rang it shares what happened, and everyone discusses where it should be placed and when it should be rung. Monthly review sessions are also held to share the updates and discuss best practices.
About Gawain
Gawain is an international NGO established in Japan, with a mission to "end rape in the slums". We are developing the world's first method to eradicate rape. Rape is one of the crimes with the highest number of unknown cases, so precise statistics are not available. Just in India where Gawain is located, 28,046 women reported harm in 2020, which shows about 80 rapes cases per day (refer to the NCRB). Instead of partnering with other local NGOs, Gawain hires Indian women directly to work with us on the project, to help us both build close relationships with the women and children living in each slum, as well as continue to improve our community-based methods. In addition, we have formed alliances with local police to ensure safety in project implementation, we conduct joint research with universities to ensure accurate impact assessments, and collaborate with a variety of stakeholders to advance the project. We will continue to address the challenge of building a "living infrastructure" for everyone to live in peace, regardless of gender, caste, or wealth.
Official website：https://www.sirgawain.org/