“Very often, public perception is skewered hearing of any sexual crimes. When we did research on them real-time, we found out that most of these cases have been suppressed due to influence and legal issues. Recently, when we visited the family of a three-year-old girl who’d been murdered in Chennai, her parents told us that what happened was different – and the story the police told the media was different. We want to help with these cases, and spread the word more about them,” says Sneha, co-founder of YSIF.

Apart from educating school children in concepts such as ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’, Sneha says that they want to change public mentality even in schools, where teachers believe only girls can be victims. “We have come across numerous cases of even boys being at the receiving end, and they deserve equal attention. We also have conducted marathons the last two years and use the funds from that to conduct self-defense classes for students from government schools.”

But she also admits that a lot has changed since the days of the ‘Nirbhaya’ case when people had no awareness about such issues. “We plan to hold the flash mob in Besant Nagar in the evening when more people will be present, and ensure that our voices are heard,” Sneha concludes.