The Webs of Safety and Care
From the Artist When we first began discussing the years of work put into the Webs of Safety & Care (‘WSC’), I could not help but feel utterly intimidated. The narrative contrasting the enormity of the labour from multiple players, with a governance system dedicated to stifle them, is not an easy story to tell. So why did we make create this graphic representation, and how can one best use it? On a third or fourth read of the detailed report around how a protective web was cast around Jane Doe, it was clear: this is not a linear tale. Linearity signifies a beginning, a middle and an end. And this “tale” had anything but. This is for two reasons: Such storytelling often requires a protagonist, and such stories presuppose a sense of conclusion. In my initial discussion with Deepthy from UAF, it was inescapable that this project was to be used, reused and fine-tuned even years after we let it out into the world. It was also amply clear that there was no one protagonist. Jane Doe’s family & clan, human rights organisations (‘HROs’), legal teams, medical & counselling staff, and finally, the funding institutions (referred to as the ‘Players’ in the WSC) all had their own roles to play in the intricate WSC. There were multiple timelines that they operated on, various factors that determined how fast they could move with garnering aid, and their own unique challenges.
A written report can certainly deliver the intricacies in terms of depth, but on first glance, may fail to communicate the overlap between the Players’ own timelines. So how can we break this down? 1. Observe the Players’ key roles and functions. 2. Find the overlaps in point (1), which as we will see, are innumerable. 3. Find the “coincidental” occurrences in the WSC. More often than not, one can find that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Most of the simultaneous happenings that moved the wheels of the WSC at the same time, were only because there was another Player in the background. 4. Finally, lay out the bricks (or in this case, panels), and find that linearity is impossible.
To illustrate, let us consider two seemingly linear timelines – that of the medical counsellors and of Jane Doe’s family. For the medical staff, an event where they take group counselling sessions for the family is a part of a larger series of efforts and roles they play throughout their bid to help Jane Doe. In a single panel of the medical aid narrative, it may look like the counsellors are the subject of the story.
This can be both true and false. While the counsellors do have a major role in that particular narrative, it is pertinent to also view the family’s linear narrative separately.
In the family’s narrative, the same scene with the counsellors appears at a time where they are most in need of therapeutic help. It comes in between panels: after they have seen and heard from Jane Doe of her ordeal in prison, and before they choose to rise again and build a movement to free her. In a single panel of the family’s narrative, it may appear like they are the subject of the story. Again, both true and false. By creating a non-linear WSC, we are forced to think outside of the linearities that give rise to hierarchies. Linearities that coerce us to picking between true and false. Rather, we see that there can be no protagonists in a collaborative, movement-building process. And yet, if we lose even a single Player, the fragility of the system can reveal itself. For instance, imagine a situation where there was no group counselling session. Could the family & clan gather the mental strength to rise up and speak truth to power? Maybe they could, but how arduous a task would it be if there was no other Player that gave them the requisite support at a time when they most needed it? Perhaps this is the importance of the term “Care” in the WSC – to work in a manner where each Player sees their role as part of a larger whole. And it truly is a “whole”. For how else could the medical aid panel end with the group session, and yet their efforts create ripple effects into the family’s, the HROs’, and the future of the larger movement in itself? Clearly not through linearities. Just by an act of care.
Kruthika NS @theworkplacedoodler
Legal Assistance
meanwhile…
Medical & Healthcare
meanwhile…
Community & Clan
meanwhile…
Funding & Aid
…but, where is the web?
To find the web, we must revisit its creation: To illustrate, let us consider two seemingly linear timelines – that of the medical counsellors and of Jane Doe’s family. For the medical staff, an event where they take group counselling sessions for the family is a part of a larger series of efforts and roles they play throughout their bid to help Jane Doe. In a single panel of the medical aid narrative, it may look like the counsellors are the subject of the story.
This can be both true and false. While the counsellors do have a major role in that particular narrative, it is pertinent to also view the family’s linear narrative separately.
In the family’s narrative, the same scene with the counsellors appears at a time where they are most in need of therapeutic help. It comes in between panels: after they have seen and heard from Jane Doe of her ordeal in prison, and before they choose to rise again and build a movement to free her. In a single panel of the family’s narrative, it may appear like they are the subject of the story. Again, both true and false.
By creating a non-linear WSC, we are forced to think outside of the linearities that give rise to hierarchies. Linearities that coerce us to picking between true and false. Rather, we see that there can be no protagonists in a collaborative, movement-building process.
And yet, if we lose even a single Player, the fragility of the system can reveal itself. For instance, imagine a situation where there was no group counselling session. Could the family & clan gather the mental strength to rise up and speak truth to power? Maybe they could, but how arduous a task would it be if there was no other Player that gave them the requisite support at a time when they most needed it?
Perhaps this is the importance of the term “Care” in the WSC – to work in a manner where each Player sees their role as part of a larger whole. And it truly is a “whole”. For how else could the medical aid panel end with the group session, and yet their efforts create ripple effects into the family’s, the HROs’, and the future of the larger movement in itself? Clearly not through linearities. Just by an act of care.
The Webs of Safety and Care Art & Design: Kruthika NS (@theworkplacedoodler)