Armed with their mobile phones, notebooks and pens, a group of enthusiastic women walk along the lanes of a housing board colony early in the morning. They go door-to-door asking residents pertinent questions about safety, quality of basic amenities and housing infrastructure among other things. While they are generally received warmly, they occasionally encounter hostility, particularly from men.
These women, who are community workers, conduct safety audits facilitated by the Information and Resource Centre for Deprived and Urban Communities (IRCDUC), a voluntary organisation focussed on housing for the poor. As residents of the resettlement site where the audit is taking place, their efforts in safety mapping have led to positive changes within the community.
Read more: Domestic violence in resettlement areas: Community workers bear the burden
But there is still a long way to go. These communities face high rates of crime and violence, especially in the dark. Women and children are particularly unsafe in their neighbourhoods, and are disproportionately affected by violence.
The IRCDUC, which works closely with resettlement communities, published the findings of the audits and put forth many suggestions for improving safety of people in the housing board sites. They submitted the results of these audits to the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB), which is in charge of allocating resettlement housing.
Past audits have resulted in improvements in the community, such as the installation of safety measures like streetlights, CCTV cameras, and a police station.
Last spring, the IRCDUC established the Centre for Women and Children in Perumbakkam as a result of an audit from earlier that year. The centre provides a framework for more women-led efforts to improve life in resettlement sites.
Leading the way in safety audits
Violence and crime in resettlement communities are a result of many institutional issues. When people are evicted, not everyone from the same area is placed in the same blocks in resettlement sites. Mercy M, a facilitator of the IRCDUC audit, described the loss of safety that comes along with eviction.
“We used to live near Thousand Lights,” Mercy said. “All the neighbours used to know each other’s families for generations, so there was a sense of community. When the government evicted and resettled us in Perumbakkam, our neighbours were different. The sense of community is lost when people come into the vertical buildings.”
Mercy regularly speaks with her children about the dangers they face at the site.The survey was conducted in Perumbakkam, Kannagi Nagar, and Semmenchery, by a team of six women who live at these sites. For these women, there was an obvious need to address safety issues in their communities.
Safety audit: Survey methodology
When families are evicted to resettlement sites, they often have to commute upwards of 35 km to reach the centre of the city. This often leads to long commuting hours and expensive commutes to work, or a loss of income altogether. So, the IRCDUC women went around the sites to speak with residents in the early mornings and evenings, when many women and children commute to and from work or school.
They approach community members with warmth and familiarity, speaking openly about the safety issues that are common in the neighbourhood.
“Eventually, they open up and share their issues with us,” Mercy M said. “This is possible only because we are also living in the same community. This makes it easy for us to gather the data, rather than an outsider.”
Auditors cross-verify residents’ observations by gathering information from different locations around the site, to ensure a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the issues at hand.
Gathering information in the early mornings and evenings also allows them to measure how darkness affects safety. Dark areas are the most dangerous, where “instances of stalking, waylaying, robbery, and attempted abduction” are more likely, according to the audit. Dark areas with little foot traffic and few street vendors are particularly unsafe.
Risks of gathering data
When women lead safety audits in various locations, they often encounter risks.
The auditors were frequently approached by men questioning their activities. At these times, the auditors would explain their survey work. They sometimes consulted with Resident Welfare Association (RWA) workers, who offered advice on which areas to inspect. Some men reacted with suspicion and reported their activities to the TNUHDB.
To enhance their safety, the auditors wore their IRCDUC ID cards while collecting data in the field. Mercy noted that wearing her ID often earned her more respect from people on the street. However, this did not entirely remove her sense of fear. In fact, it heightened her concern for the average woman and child in the area, who must navigate the streets without such official status.
Read more: How flawed eviction and resettlement are triggering child marriages in Chennai
How data informs solutions
Women in the resettlement community work to fill in the informational and organisational gaps that exist in addressing safety issues in resettlement sites.
“These safety audits are processes which the government is supposed to do, to monitor the resettlement project,” said Vanessa Peter, founder of IRCDUC. “Because it was not there, we needed to fill the gap.”
What’s missing is a comprehensive approach to implementing safety solutions that only the TNUHDB can facilitate, according to Vanessa. The IRCDUC recommends that the Tamil Nadu Government reinstate a high-level committee to monitor and improve conditions of the resettlement sites in Chennai.
“Everybody wants to address the issues, but the idea of who does what continues to be a challenge,” Vanessa added.
In 2019, the IRCDUC completed its first safety audit in Perumbakkam, followed by two more in January and May 2023. In May and June of 2024, the team completed audits in Perumbakkam, as well as Semmencherry and Kannagi Nagar.
After each audit, they present the results to TNUHDB. As a result, they have repaved some roads and installed street lights, gates, and CCTV cameras in Perumbakkam. In May 2023, police officials restored the Perumbakkam police booth to working order. Some safety improvements based on the May 2023 audits were only implemented after “several follow-ups” with TNUHDB.
Past safety improvements in Perumbakkam
| Date of audit | Institutions that received the audit reports | Resulting improvement |
| January 2019 | TNUHDB | Installation of streetlights and safety gates; NGO coordination meetings |
| January 2023 | TNUHDB | Installation of streetlights |
| Police department | Police booth returned to functioning order | |
| Panchayat President | Higher secondary school gets flooring, tables and chairs; | |
| Centre for Women and Children (created by IRCDUC) | ||
| May 2023 | TNUHDB | CCTV cameras installed, roads repaved |
| Police department, Panchayat President and, District Administration |
Hoping for change
The IRCDUC submitted the June 2024 audit to TNUHDB, but has not yet received any formal response. They also submitted the audit to multiple organisations — including the District Administration, Resident Welfare Association, and Greater Chennai Corporation — in hopes that this will result in more improvements.
The audit highlights the urgent need for high mast street lamps, specifically, which are more difficult for vandals to smash. They also requested the setting up of an all-women police station in Perumbakkam, where women are more likely to report instances of violence. Currently, the nearest one is located in Kannagi Nagar, over 10 km away.
Mink V, a research fellow at IRCDUC, worked to gather information from the Center for Women and Children. She believes that the research by these community workers is crucial. Those most affected by safety issues have led the way in this study, in hopes that the safety issues will no longer go unaddressed.
“People living in resettlements are underrepresented,” Mink said. “These audits are a way for the women to represent themselves. The women are leaders here.”