Women’s safety training focused on consent, equality and intervention is being extended across Telangana through a new facilitator network involving educational institutions, the state Women Safety Wing said at a programme at Osmania University in Hyderabad.
The two-day Training of Trainers programme, which concludes on Friday, is part of the Stand With Her campaign. It is designed to equip students and faculty members with practical skills to promote respectful relationships, identify inappropriate behaviour and respond to harassment and discrimination.
Women Safety Wing director general Charu Sinha said at the programme on Thursday that improving women’s safety required changes in mindsets, social attitudes and everyday behaviour in addition to law enforcement. She urged young people, particularly men, to challenge harmful stereotypes, recognise inappropriate conduct and intervene when they witness harassment or discrimination.
The training covers gender, sexuality, identity, personal boundaries and power dynamics. Participants are also being trained in active listening, empathy, effective communication and handling difficult conversations. These subjects position campus safety as an institutional and social responsibility rather than an issue limited to policing or individual complaints.
Osmania University vice-chancellor Kumar Molugaram said educational institutions had a role in creating safe and inclusive campuses. He noted that women account for nearly 40% of the university’s faculty and referred to plans to construct dedicated high-rise hostel facilities with capacity for 1,500 women.
The programme will be conducted in four batches, with more than 250 participants expected to subsequently organise awareness sessions at their respective institutions. Through this multiplier model, the Women Safety Wing aims to reach more than 2,000 people across Telangana over the next six months.
The initiative links awareness-building with the functioning of institutions where students and staff live, study and work. Its immediate task is to create trained facilitators who can continue discussions on safety, dignity and equality after the Osmania University programme ends on Friday.
