Urban Company to support service partners facing domestic violence and abuse

On-demand home services platform Urban Company has introduced a policy addressing gender-based violence for its fleet of service professionals.

According to a press statement, the initiative, titled 'Project Nidar', will help the company’s active service professionals who are currently facing or have faced domestic violence and abuse by creating awareness and supporting them during challenging times. It has partnered with Invisible Scars Foundation, an NGO that supports survivors of gender-based violence.

The statement said that with Project Nidar, the company aims to create a safe space for its service partners by helping them notice signs of abuse and foster a supportive community.

Urban Company and the Invisible Scars Foundation will provide counselling, legal assistance, and emergency lodging support. Apart from this, the company will provide medical support, beyond the already existing Rs 1 lakh insurance cover, and financial aid of up to Rs 50,000 to service partners seeking help. This policy is available to all active service partners on the Urban Company platform in India, the press release added.

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“We recognise the deep and lasting psychological impact of domestic violence and abuse, and want to set up a robust support system for our service partners. Women comprise about 35% of our partner fleet, which makes ’Project Nidar’ even more critical and has been carefully crafted with gender experts to not only provide tangible medical and financial support, but also raise awareness about domestic violence and abuse,” said Abhiraj Singh Bhal, CEO and Co-founder, Urban Company.

"This initiative reflects its [Urban Company's] commitment to addressing domestic violence in the workplace, and we are proud to be their implementation partner for this," said Ekta Viiveck Verma, Founder, Invisible Scars Foundation.

The company will also release a series of videos on what constitutes domestic violence and how the organisation can help its service professionals. The videos, accessible to all service partners via the Urban Company partner app, will feature a wide range of topics identifying domestic violence and abuse, the different types of violence, how to report them, and more.