Impact

Mimi ni Wewe - I am You

"Mimi ni Wewe"� aims to end voluntary and involuntary sexual harassment and assault perpetrated by men on women. In Dar es Salaam, there is a high tolerance of cultural norms that are offensive and undermining to the dignity of women. The project involves inviting men, particularly young men, to experience a 360-degree virtual reality (VR) collection of first-hand accounts of women experiences and encounters with sexual harassment at home, the workplace, publicly and any other settings. The stories will come from real-life harassment experiences of several volunteer women in Dar es Salaam's public spaces. The VR will be experienced either through physical booths in various public spaces in Dar es Salaam and at organized Hub events or online. Our audience will participate in the contemplative experience of the stories presented in VR and we will invite them to consider how these common habits make them feel, but also to reflect on how their actions lead towards harassment of girls and women in society. In each case, we will engage the participants in self-reflection of their own harassment behaviors against women and/or how they may empathize with women who experience such harassment and assault so that the participant may be a better ally of women. We hope to partner with government and non-governmental entities such as AfroFilm and ScreenStation that are working toward the protection of women's and girls' welfare. We intend to begin recording the VR footage from May 2018, pilot and implement by November 28th, 2018, which we have selected because it is the International Day for the elimination of violence against women, and which we hope will galvanize stakeholders in this policy space.