The Union Minister of Women and Child Development recently held a video conference with personnel from her Ministry, mainly focusing on methods to protect women in distress during the lockdown. The conference was attended by nearly 1,000 individuals, including employees of One Stop Centres, those from shelter homes for distressed women such as Swadhar Greh and Ujjawala homes, and members of Working Women Hostels.
Reasons for the Video Conference
The National Commission of Women recorded a two-fold increase in cases of domestic violence and sexual assault since the start of the lockdown on March 24, 2020. An alarming rise of three-fold in police apathy incidents was also noted. This spike in crimes against women led to the scheduling of this conference.
Furthermore, gender rights activists and the United Nations (UN) urged boosting helplines, psycho-social support, and online counselling to help distressed women. The Ministry instructed its officials to sync One Stop Centres with local medical teams, the police, NIMHANS, and the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). This collaboration ensures that their services are not hampered due to movement restrictions.
Suggestions Raised During the Conference
The conference participants suggested training counsellors across the nation to handle unique issues faced by women. Participants also proposed utilising digital governance for ensuring women’s safety—a measure that must be adopted at the State level and by NGOs.
Additionally, they requested NGOs to reach out to at least ten women daily, assuring women that they are not alone during these challenging times.
About One Stop Centre
The One Stop Centre is a centrally sponsored scheme under the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) and a subset of the National Mission for Empowerment of Women. The Centres are set up nationwide to provide comprehensive support to women affected by violence.
They offer services such as emergency response and rescue, medical assistance, help in lodging FIRs, psycho-social support and counselling, legal aid, shelter, and video conferencing facilities. The scheme is funded by the Nirbhaya Fund, with the central government offering full financial support to state governments and Union Territory administrations.
Working Women Hostels Scheme
The Working Women Hostels scheme by the Ministry of Women and Child Development aims to ensure safe accommodation for working women away from their homes. Provisions have been made for security guards and CCTV cameras to ensure safety. Measures are also in place for quality stay, like clean day care centres for children of the inmates, medical first-aid, washing machines, and geysers/solar water heating systems.
Swadhar Greh and Ujjawala Homes
The Swadhar A Scheme for Women in Difficult Circumstances was launched by the Department of Women and Child Development in 2001. This scheme offers shelter, food, clothing, counselling, training, clinical and legal aid to rehabilitate distressed women.
Ujjawala Home, on the other hand, is a scheme aimed at preventing trafficking and assisting in the rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration of victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
