• Building Violence-Free Villages

    This initiative aims to transform a village into a model violence-free village by addressing the deep-rooted caste and gender-based violence that undermines social harmony, youth freedom, and women’s rights. Our approach will combine community-based leadership development, experiential learning, and inclusive dialogue. We will engage all stakeholders from youth and women to traditional power holders using compassion-centered tools that promote reflection, empathy, and a deeper understanding of the impact of their actions. The project’s long-term vision is to build a village culture based on dignity, inclusion, and justice.

  • Baula (ବଉଳ) Fellowship - Creating a network of women entrepreneurs

    Launched in February 2024, the Baula (ବଉଳ) Fellowship is our flagship program at the intersection of gender and entrepreneurship. Designed through immersive residential workshops, mentoring, and hands-on field support, Baula empowers women to launch and sustain their own micro-enterprises.One standout milestone this year was the launch of a women-led café—creating both a safe space and a vibrant hub for entrepreneurship. With deep roots across Odisha, the Baula Fellowship is nurturing bold, local changemakers ready to lead from within.

  • Jana Nayika (ଜନ ନାୟିକା) Fellowship - Creating a network of Citizen leaders

    The Jana Nayika Fellowship is a fully online, year-long program that nurtures self-reliant women and non-binary leaders committed to advancing gender justice. With a strong focus on citizen leadership through a gender lens, the fellowship equips participants to link grassroots realities with systemic change—through policy advocacy, improved law implementation, and local governance accountability. The program combines structured learning, mentorship, and real-world engagement to challenge deep-rooted social norms and structural inequalities.

Our theory of change

If we train women to build profitable enterprises, practice citizen leadership, and lead community owned interventions against gender-based violence, then they will be able to take these skills into their communities creating support structures for other women, and creating ground teams across all genders to prevent and respond to Gender Based Violence in their villages, because financial independence, problem-solving skills, and visible community contributions shift both perception and power towards women’s leadership, making those in power take notice, listen and making violence-free villages a real, lived possibility.

Stories in Progress

Testimonials

  • Ranjeeta

    PaidPeriodLeave Campaigner

  • Ranjeeta

    PaidPeriodLeave Campaigner

  • Manju Patra

    Baula Fellow 2024
  • I got the opportunities to meet people who are very established in their domains, speakers, mentors. I loved how we lived together in those 5 days.  I was nervous, but I felt very confident after presenting my business idea in front of so many experienced entrepreneurs and my Baulas. I loved the last day’s gratitude circle, we could share how we feel about each other which we have never experienced before.

    Padmalaya

    Baula Fellow
  • Thinking about starting my own business was also very confronting, but listening to our speakers, entrepreneurs, mentors was also calming. I am still not very convinced to start, but I got the confidence to start when I am mentally ready. Dance circles by Vartika helped me to release my anxieties, fear and over self consciousness, it made me free to communicate and participate actively.

    Girisuta

    Baula Fellow
  • My experience was very enlightening . Meeting and listening to remarkable women dedicated to making positive changes for themselves and their communities was truly inspiring. The insight shared by some entrepreneurs, along with their success stories, were really motivating. One of the most memorable moments was visiting a banana value-addition factory, it really left an impression on me. This entire journey has filled me with enthusiasm and a strong desire to collaborate with some of the amazing participants I met. I am very grateful to "Safe Odisha for Her" for giving me this opportunity to be a part of something so impactful.

    Dibyush

    Volunteer, Designer of Manju’s Baula Cafe
  • I had attended the session on the 2nd day, which was about the idea they had to carry upon. Their simple idea has been based on revenue generation not only for them but for their entire family circling around the village economy. The pitch decks are picture perfect with confidence brewing from each word and I am sure their grit and determination will make the Baula cafe initiative a successful revolution across each touch point. I wish them all the best with a promise whenever they need us, we will be there.

    Biswaranjan Dehury

    Panelist at second residential of Baula Fellowship

Incubated At

Partner Organisations

The Trigger

The incident that shattered many of us was the police brutality against a 14-year-old tribal girl in Biramitrapur, Sundargarh, Odisha. She was assaulted for days in police custody by policemen and was illegally forced to have an abortion in June 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown. While Odisha is one of the poorest states in India, its national ranking on crimes against women is among the top ten.
Odisha ranks third in the country for crimes against women, according to the NCRB 2022 report. Cases of cruelty by husband and/or his relatives shot up by 33.62% in the second successive year of rising domestic violence cases amid the lockdown, with 293 dowry deaths reported. The conviction rate is as low as 8.3% compared to the national average of 26.6%.
We are essentially trying to bring issues relating to violence against women to the heart of public discourse. It is not just restricted to the welfare and financial incentive driven course of action but focuses on solidarity and collectivisation of women in Odisha today.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram