GENDER MOBILE- CAMPUS SAFETY INITIATIVE Gender Mobile Initiative (Gender Mobile) is one of the recipients of Voice Now Us Awards grant, under which they got approval to implement the ‘Campus Safety Initiative’. This initiative aims at providing solution to gender-based violence <(>&<)> harassment within Nigerian higher institutions of learning.

Sexual harassment in institutions of higher learning has assumed an epidermic proportion in Nigeria. While both male and female students encounter it in schools, power relations and the dynamics of difference make womenand girls disproportionately affected with associated negative outcomes for girls in terms of educational attainment, mental health, and economic outcomes. For girls to stay in school and achieve their full potential, environments of learning must be harassment-free.

To address this gap, Gender Mobile proposes a tripartite approach that will increase reportage, hold perpetrators accountable to further deter potential perpetrators, and improve institutional accountability. This approach is premised on the theory of changethat sexual harassment within the higher institutions strive because there is a reciprocal relationship between the culture of silence that thrives on a permissive climate and lack of survivor-centered reporting system, poor institutional response enabled by lackof accountable systems and structures. Their approach is defined by the inclusion principle of Nothing About Us Without Us which ensures that targets and survivors imparted by the structural inequity are involved in the design and implementation of policies and practices that affect their lives.

The Campus Safety Initiative is grounded in research and adopts a participatory process that builds the capacity of women, girls and young people including persons with disabilities with the skills, knowledge and ability to organize and build movements, galvanize and mobilize peers for sexual assault and prevention effort, use their authentic voices to advocate against sexual violence and be empowered legally to hold institutions to account. This capacity building will expose them to information on overcoming the bystander effect and equip them with the technical tools to provide first aid psychological support to targets or victims. The technological component of theCampus Safety Initiative promotes access to services, enhances survivor-centered reporting, data generation, virtual safe space for first-aid psychological support, and climate survey to reflect the diverse experiences of women and girls in institutions of higher learning.

Key activities proposed under this initiative are:
1. Development and administration of Sexual Assault Location Mapping.
2. Capacity building of female student leaders to be first-aid psychological support responders.
3. Trainingof Female Student leaders on sexual assault prevention, campus organizing, movement building and institutional accountability.
4. Dissemination of the Survivor-centered reporting tool.
5. Conduct 3 town hall forum across 3 institutions of learning.
6.Administration and analysis of campus climate survey.

The change they would like to see is a safe campus environment for young women to learn, strive and excel in life.