A
women and children Help desk in each Police Station
An
Idea whose time has come
An experiment by Shri Satish B Agnihotri IAS in 2005 when he was secretary of Women and Child Dept at Govt of Odisha. He alongwith a sensitive DGP Shri Mishra was able to implement a WOMEN AND CHILD HELP DESK in many police choukies.
The recent
incident of brutality and rape of a brave 23 year old has shocked the
conscience of the entire society. There is anger, helplessness, shrill cries
for summary retribution and knee jerk reaction. The overwhelming demand is for
more severe punishment and speedier process of trial. Some saner elements have
emphasized the point that it is the speed and certainty of punishment that is
an effective deterrent rather than the severity of the punishment. There is
also the oft repeated` demand for the all-women police station. All these
‘instant’ solutions are very tempting, but do these provide lasting solutions?
Hardly so.
We have heard
much of this debate before. Experience tells us that this anger will also
dissipate if we do not channelize it into lasting institutional solution to the
problem of unsafe Delhi or for that matter, increasingly unsafe urban India for
its women.
No society is
crime free. But a mature society learns from incidents of this type and sets up
anti-dotes that are both preventative and those who deal with incidents when
unfortunately, they happen. Nor are the social attitudes going to change
overnight, but a systemic effort in that direction has to begin somewhere! We
can enact any number of laws, but the devil truly hides in implementation as
the Delhi and similar such incidents have shown us in the past. Can we create a
functional, robust and helpful structure? The answer is a simple YES!
What does a
rape victim, or for that matter a female victim of violence need the most and
need immediately? A trust that she will be heard and helped; not scorned, shoed
away or worst, made to suffer more ignominy. Given the structure of our social
and criminal justice system, the woman and especially the child does not dare
to approach a police station. Sympathy is the last thing they expect there, and
this is precisely where the first dent has to be made.
Women’s
issues suffer from one more dilemma. We often set up exclusive solutions for
them. All women’s police stations are no exception. The unintended side effect
of it is that the mainstream police stations conveniently wash their hands off
the complainant sending her to the ‘exclusive’ thana. The all women police
station always remains a ‘second class citizen’ and, in an ironical case that the writer is aware of, a Mahila Thana was
itself asking for protection against local ruffians – who after all have to be
handled by the local ‘mainstream’ police station. An added nuance that is
ignored by all is that untrained women police can be equally insensitive or
even more insensitive, compared to their male counterpart while dealing with
women who have faced violence.
Why can’t we mainstream the component of
assisting women and children as part of the regular criminal justice and police
system? It is feasible, cost effective and can increase the quality of
policing. More important, it has been tried out in Odisha and there is no
reason why it cannot work in, say, Delhi immediately.
Imagine a
traumatized victim of violence walking into a police station. How reassuring will
the person feel if she finds a Women and Child desk manned by a woman who is
not intimidating in her manners? How reassuring if there a sliding partition of
the type we use in hospitals which give a patient privacy? How reassuring
indeed if the desk personnel;
- Listen to the complainant with
patience and compassion. If required, provide her facilities such as
drinking water and use of toilet.
- Ensure that the details are kept
confidential and facilitate to lodge the complaint or the FIR.
- Help the complainant to access
the services such as health, counseling, legal aid, short-stay home.
- Provide services without being
judgmental and biased due caste, creed, current situation, family
background or past history of the client.
- Uphold the dignity and respect of
the client and
- Do not give any wrong hopes and
information to the client
Is it a tall
order to expect the Help Desk to be open 24 hours and on all days just as the
police station is? Certainly not.
Every
district has requisite support system in terms of hospital, short stay home,
legal aid cell etc. But one important missing link is the service of a
councilor. It is quite possible to have a panel of two to three professional
and trained councilors for every police stations who can be remunerated on the
case attendance basis.
Are such
solutions not very costly? Not at all. A proposal submitted to the Women and
Child Department in the Centre in 2005-06 for a support to about 460 police
stations to set up the Women and Children help desk with support for training,
councelling, help line, mobility, communication, transport, stay at Short stay
home, sensitization workshops and monitoring and evaluation together cost just
about 4 crores of rupees. It could at best be 10 crores to-day – a cost the
society can certainly afford.
Many persons
had argued for setting up a women’s desk and a children’s desk separately. A
simple ‘thought experiment’ was enough to dissuade them from such idea. The
thought experiment was to imagine the plight of a 12 year old girl child who
comes to the police station and is tossed between the two desks! We often
forget the simple wisdom of ‘united we stand’!
Training,
sensitisation and capacity building of the police personnel is a big task and
has to be sustained over a long time. But wherever it has been done properly it
has been a rewarding experience. Sunita Krishnan, the brave and now famous
‘rape survivor’ from Hyderabad who is currently working for rescue and
rehabilitation of trafficked girls, had been part of such training of Police
personnel. A week after one of her training sessions, she received a phone call
from a Police Inspector who told her that he had carried out a raid for rescue
of some girls in which he followed her instructions to the last detail. When he
told her that he found it to be the most rewarding day of his three decades
service in Police, Sunita was overwhelmed. She told this writer that it was the
biggest certificate that she ever got as a trainer.
There you
are. With a little addition to the existing infrastructure, we can set up a
mainstream institutional structure to which a traumatized victim can turn for
help and support without fearing to encounter insensitivity or ridicule. It is
a place that would treat her with dignity. A desk that will connect her to the
support services rather than leaving her to fend for herself. It will be a
place where not withstanding her trauma her ‘mind will be without fear’.
It is time
Delhi sheds its image as the rape capital of the country and sets up structures
that make violence against women a thing of the past. It is quite feasible to
set up such help desks in all the police stations by 8th March 2013.
This is the
most constructive tribute we can pay to the 23 year old braveheart who is
struggling for her life in Safdarjung Hospital. The time for the idea is now!
Satish B Agnihotri sbagnihotri@gmail.com The writer is a civil servant and currently working in the Ministry of
Defence. The views are personal. Four documents related with this initiative
taken in Odisha can be accessed at the url ……… These provide a power point
presentation, the details of the model Police Order, cost estimates for setting
up the desks in 460 Police stations and the information to be displayed at the
Help Desk. For details about Sunita Krishnan, please see her TED lecture or the
‘We the people’ programme telecast on Sunday the 23rd December 2012.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name of the Districts Name
of the Police Stations
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Police
Order No. 301/2005
To
facilitate integrated approach towards "Crime against Women" and
"Children", it has been decided to set up a `Mahila and Sishu Desks'
in 40 Police Stations of the State as per list attached in the first phase. The
Desk Officer for such desk will receive all complaints of/relating to women
victims and children, listen to their grievances with empathy and ensure proper
legal action.
Constitution:
A woman officer of the rank of S.I/ A.S.I available
in the said 40 major Police Stations of the state shall be designated as Desk
Officer of the `Mahila and Sishu Desk'. She will be assisted by at least one
lady constable. Where no woman officer of the rank of S.I / A.S.I. is available
in the said 40 Police Stations, a Junior S.I should be designated as the Desk
Officer of such Desk. In absence of any woman officer, at least two lady
constables should be attached to such Desk. The Dist. S. P. will select
personnel from the existing strength of the Police Stations and attach them to
such Desk by issuing formal orders, which should be published as D.O. and a
copy sent to the concerned Police Station. The `Mahila and Sishu Desk shall
function under the over all control and supervision of the Officer-in-Charge of
the Police Station.
Duties and
Responsibilities:
The Desk Officer of the Mahila and Sishu Desk shall
be responsible for receiving all complaints either lodged at the Police
Stations by woman and child victims or relating to them
1.
If the complaint reveals a cognizable case, it shall
be her/his duty to have the case registered immediately and ensure that a copy
of the FIR is made over to the complaint free of cost. The acknowledgement of
the complainant should be retrained for record.
2.
If the complaint does not reveal any cognizable
case she or he shall enter the fact in the Station Diary and advise the victim
suitably to take other recourse available.
3.
The Officer-in-Charge of the Police Station, the
Desk Officer of the Mahila and Sishu Desk as well as the staff attached to such
Desk should be conversant with laws in force relating to women and children as
well as various judicial pronouncements and guidelines of the Apex Court and
different High Courts and ensure that these are implemented in letter and
spirit.
4.
They will ensure that the guidelines prescribed
under various laws and by the Apex Court relating to arrest and treatment of
women and children while at the Police Stations are meticulously followed.
5.
The Traumatized women victims as well as women and
juvenile accused of any offence while at Police Stations shall be segregated
from others, and examined and interrogated separately in a separate room of the
P. S. with due regard to their privacy and in accordance with law.
6.
The women victims/accused persons shall be dealt
with all decency and due regard to their honour and dignity, so that they do
not feel harassed at the hands of the police on the plea of examination or
interrogation.
7.
Similarly, the child victims and juveniles in
conflict with law shall be taken care of and dealt with sympathy in accordance
with provisions of law relating to children.
8.
The traumatized women victims and children may
require counseling and temporary shelter before they are accepted back in the
families or otherwise rehabilitated. The Desk Officer of the desk shall refer
such cases to the Short Stay Home, Destitute Home and Children's Home etc. as
the case may be. To facilitate this, such Desk Officer shall maintain a list of
Family Counselling Centres, Short Stay Homes, Swadhar Homes for Women and Children
etc. with the names and addresses of the functionaries as well as their
telephone numbers to contact them at the time of need. A detailed district wise
list has already been circulated to all District Ss. P. / Range D.Is.G. by the
woman and Child Development Department, Bhubaneswar.
9.
Several NGOs at the Dist. and State level are
working for the cause of women and children. The Officer-in-Charge of the
Police Station and the Desk Officer should be accessible to such NGOs and
co-ordinate such efforts to improve the condition of women and children within
the legal frame work. To facilitate this, the Desk Officer shall maintain a
list of such NGOs functioning in the P. S area and the district, with names,
addresses of the functionaries and telephone numbers of contact them as and
when necessary.
10.
The traumatized women victims and children may
require medical attention for their medico-legal examination and treatment. The
Desk Officer of such Desk shall maintain a list of lady doctors available in
the P. S jurisdiction, Sub-Division and District Hdqrs. for referring the cases
of women and children victims.
11.
Trafficking in Women and Children is another major
area which the officers and men attached to such Desk will be required to focus
their attention. The Officers and men attached to the Desk shall collect
information regarding trafficking in 'Women' and 'Children' on false promises
of marriage, providing employment etc. and their subsequent exploitation.
Regular liaison with the NGOs working in the field and people's
representatives, particularly of Panchayatiraj Institutions will help in
collection of such intelligence. On receipt of such intelligence it should be
duly verified, and the Desk officer should ensure raids on the lodging houses,
hotels, brothels, bars and pubs, dhabas and red light areas by the special
Police Officer under the I.T.P. Act, 1956, if any, and take appropriate legal
action against the traffickers. The victims of such trafficking should be
handled with due honour and dignity and steps taken for restoring them to their
parents / guardians or rehabilitating them through NGOs or other Govt.
agencies.
12.
It has been observed that Police officers during
interviews to the media allow women and child victims to be photographed after
raids on brothels etc. While briefing the media, the Mahila and Sisu Desk
personnel should bear in mind that law prohibits revelation of name of victims
of offences U/s. 376, 376A, 376B, 376C and 337D I.P.C., and child participants
in offences under the I.T.P. Act are often victims of crime. This aspect may be
borne in mind while allowing media coverage of such offences.
13.
The Desk Officer shall initiate legal action
against sale and circulation of obscene literature, pornographic materials and
indecent representation of women at public places. They shall also identify
places frequently by large number of women and girls either regularly or
occasionally during fairs and festivals and take proactive measures by way of
patrolling and deployment of women police officers to prevent eve-teasing,
kidnapping, abduction and molestation etc.
In addition to the aforesaid duties, the officers and
constables attached to such Desk shall perform normal duties of the Police
Station assigned to them by the Officer-in-Charge.
14.
Training: A 'Sensitization Training
Course' for Officers and Constables attached to such Desk, Os.I.C/
Is.I.C/C.Is/SDPOs and Hqrs. Dy. Ss. P. shall be organised at the Range level.
The District Ss.P. will ensure that all officers and Constables attached to
such Desk attend the training course. Suitable entry to that effect may be made
in their Service books.
15.
Nodal Authority: The Dist. H.R.P.C. will
act as the Nodal agency in such matters within the district.
(B. B. MISHRA)
D.G & I. G. of Police
Orissa, Cuttack
List of
Police Stations of the State where 'Mahila and Sishu Desk will be set up in the
1st Phase.
Name of the Districts Name
of the Police Stations
1. Angul Angul
P.S.
Talcher
P.S
2. Balasore Balasore
P.S
3. Berhampur Gopalpure
P.S.
4. Bargarh Bargarh
P.S.
5. Boudh Boudh
P.S.
6. Bhadrak Town
P.S.
7. Bolangir Bolangir
Town P.S.
8. Cuttack Salepur
P.S.
Sadar
P.S.
9. Deogarh Deogarh
P.S.
10. Dhenkanal Town
P.S.
11. Ganjam Chhatrapur
P.S.
Bhanjanagar
P.S.
12. Gajapati Paralakhemundi
P.S
13. Jajpur Jajpur
P.S
14. Jagatsinghpur Jagatsinghpur
P.S.
Paradeep
P.S.
15. Jharsuguda Jharsuguda
P.S.
16. Kalahandi Town
P.S.
17. Keonjhar Town
P.s.
Ghasipura
P.S.
18. Kandhamal Town
P.S.
19. Khurda Jatni
P.S.
Khurda
P.S
20. Koraput Town
P.S.
21. Kendrapara Kendrapara
P.S.
Rajnagar
P.S.
22. Mayurbhanj Baripada
Town P.S
23. Nayagarh Nayagarh
P.S.
24. Nawarangpur Nawarangpur
P.S.
25. Puri Puri
Town P.S.
Pipil
P.S.
26. Rourkela Lathikata
P.S.
27. Rayagada Rayagada
P.S.
28. Sambalpur Burla
P.S.
29. Sonepur Sonepur
Town P.S.
30. Sundargarh Town
P.S.
31. Nuapada Nuapada
P.S.
32. Malkangiri Malkangiri
P.S.
(B. B. MISHRA)
D.G & I. G. of
Police
Orissa, Cuttack
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help desk
Display
- The Help Desk is open 24 hours
and on all days.
- The help desk is an exclusive
desk for women and children in distress.
- Two/ three police officers are
exclusively deputed for this desk
Services
provided by the Help Desk:
- The helpdesk shall listen to the
clients and facilitate to lodge the complaint.
- The helpdesk shall facilitate the
client to lodge FIR.
- For a non literate person, the
Help Desk shall read out the FIR and take the left thumb impression /
signature only after the client is satisfied with the language and content
of FIR.
Your rights:
- It is your right to lodge an FIR.
The Help Desk shall not refuse or dissuade you from lodging an FIR.
- Ensure that you affix your
signature on the FIR.
- You are entitled to a copy of the
FIR. You can demand your copy from the Help Desk.
- If you are a victim of violence,
rape, burn etc and require medical attention, helpdesk will ensure the
provision of medical examination and treatment.
- If you need counseling support,
the help desk shall make arrangements to obtain counseling support.
- If you need legal aid, then the
Help Desk would request the legal aid cell to provide support.
- If you need to stay in short
stay/ childcare home, the helpdesk shall make arrangements for it.
- Help Desk would maintain
confidentiality and your information would not be shared. Help Desk would
only share the information for the purpose of the trial, with your
consent.
Ground
Rules for the Help Desk Personnel:
- Listen to the client/ complainant
with patience and compassion. If required, provide them facilities such as
drinking water and use of toilet.
- Ensure that the details are kept
confidential.
- Help the client/ complainant to
access the services such as health, counseling, legal.
- Provide services without being
judgmental and biased due caste, creed, current situation, family
background or past history of the client.
- Uphold the dignity and respect of
the client.
- Do not give any wrong hopes and information to the client.
BUDGET AND UNIT COST FOR
'PREVENTION RESCUE AND REHABILITATION OF TRAFFICKED
|
||||
WOMEN AND GIRLS
|
||||
1
|
TRAINING OF POLICE
PERSONNEL ATTACHED TO THE 'MAHILA O SISHU' HELP DESK
|
|||
No. of participants
per batch
|
30
|
|||
Duration of the
orientation
|
[days]
|
3
|
||
(Rupees)
|
||||
Travel of Resource
persons (Air fare)
|
For 2 national level
resource persons
|
30,000
|
||
Honorarium to resource
persons
|
@Rs.1,500 * 2
Resource persons*3 days
|
9,000
|
||
Boarding &
lodging of Resource persons
|
3,000
|
|||
Travel Allowance to
participants
|
Average of Rs.300
per participant * 30 participants ( to be paid on actual basis as per
government norm)
|
9,000
|
||
DA to the
participants
|
@Rs. 150/- per
participant * 30 participants * 3 days (Including boarding charges and
excluding food expenses during the training)
|
13,500
|
||
Food (Lunch and
tea/snacks)
|
@Rs.100 * 30
participants * 3 days
|
9,000
|
||
Miscellaneous
expenditure (Banner, stationery and materials, other contingencies)
|
@Rs.100 * 30 participants
|
3,000
|
||
Total cost of
orientation per batch
|
76,500
|
|||
Cost of orientation of 1392
participants of 464 police stations having help desk in 47 batches
|
3,595,500
|
|||
2
|
SUPPORT TO HELP DESK
|
|||
No of Help Desk
|
464
|
|||
Contingencies
|
@Rs.1,500/- per
month * 12 months * 464 units
|
8,352,000
|
||
Annual contingency
cost of 464 Help Desk
|
8,352,000
|
|||
3
|
SALARY TO COUNSELORS
|
|||
Salary to Counselors
|
@Rs.5,000 per month *
12 months * 30 counselors
|
1,800,000
|
||
4
|
TRAINING OF
COUNSELORS
|
|||
No. of participants
per batch
|
30
|
|||
Duration of the
orientation
|
[days]
|
5
|
||
Travel of Resource
persons (Air fare)
|
For 2 national level
resource persons
|
30,000
|
||
Honorarium to resource
persons
|
@Rs.1,500 * 2 Resource
persons*5 days
|
15,000
|
||
Travel allowance to
participants
|
@Rs.150 * 30
participants
|
4,500
|
||
DA to the
participants
|
@Rs. 100/- per
participant * 30 participants * 10 days (Including boarding charges and
excluding food expenses during the training)
|
30,000
|
||
Food (Lunch and
tea/snacks)
|
@Rs.100 * 30
participants * 10 days
|
30,000
|
||
Miscellaneous expenditure
(Banner, stationery and materials, other contingencies)
|
@Rs.100 * 30 participants
|
3,000
|
||
Total cost of
orientation per batch
|
112,500
|
|||
5
|
SUPPORT TO
COUNSELING CENTRES
|
|||
No of counseling
centres
|
30
|
|||
Contingencies
(Office management, stationary expenditure including telephone)
|
@Rs.2,500/- per
month * 12 months * 30 centres
|
900,000
|
||
Mobility support for
counselors to provide counseling at help desk
|
@Rs.10,000/- per
month * 12 months * 30 centres
|
3,600,000
|
||
Annual cost for
functioning of 30 counseling centres
|
4,500,000
|
|||
6
|
SUPPORT TO
ESTABLISHMENT OF HELPLINES
|
|||
No of Helplines
|
30
|
|||
Helpline Operational
cost
|
@Rs.6,000/- per
month * 12 months * 30 units
|
2,160,000
|
||
Annual operational
cost for functioning of 30 Helplines
|
2,160,000
|
|||
7
|
SUPPORT FOR STORT STAY
/ SWADHAR HOMES
|
|||
No of units to
support
|
30
|
|||
No. of residents
/rescued women and girls to be supported
|
Per Short Stay /
Swadhar Homes
|
25
|
||
Support for food,
|
@Rs.500/- per month *
12 months * 25 girls and women * 30 units
|
4,500,000
|
||
Medical support for
check up and treatment
|
@Rs.300/- per month *
12 months * 25 girls and women * 30 units
|
2,700,000
|
||
Total of support
|
7,200,000
|
|||
8
|
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
|
|||
Salary of trainer
|
@Rs. 5000 Per month *12 *30 units
|
2,160,000
|
||
Cost of material
|
@Rs. 200 Per month *25 *30 units
|
150,000
|
||
Total support for
training
|
2,310,000
|
|||
9
|
MOBILITY SUPPORT FOR HEALTH
DEPARTMENT / DOCTORS
|
|||
No of units to
support
|
One per district
|
30
|
||
Mobility support for
doctors
|
@Rs.1000/- per month
* 12 months * 30 units
|
360,000
|
||
10
|
COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY
MATERIALS
|
|||
Printing of a
booklet on laws and rights of women
|
Rs.25 per booklet *
3,000 booklets
|
75,000
|
||
Pamphlets /
materials on trafficking
|
Lump sum provision
for printing of 3 types on pamphlets on trafficking
|
150,000
|
||
Total cost of
materials
|
225,000
|
|||
11
|
STATE LEVEL
EXPERIENCE SHARING WORKSHOP ON HELP DESK
|
|||
No. of participants
|
Selected from
district and state units
|
60
|
||
Duration of the
workshop
|
[day]
|
1
|
||
Rs.P
|
||||
Travel of resource
persons / facilitators
|
Hired taxi charges
for local travel
|
2,000
|
||
Honorarium to
Resource persons / Facilitators
|
@Rs.1,000/- per
person * 3 persons
|
3,000
|
||
Travel of
participants
|
Average of Rs.300
per participant * 40 outstation participants ( to be paid on actual basis as
per government norm)
|
12,000
|
||
Meeting expenses:
|
||||
Banner (Two)
|
2,000
|
|||
Food for
participants (High tea, Lunch, Evening tea)
|
@Rs.250 * 60
participants
|
15,000
|
||
Food for drivers
|
@Rs.75 * 50 drivers
|
3,750
|
||
Stationery and
materials
|
@Rs.100 * 60 participants
|
6,000
|
||
Workshop
Contingencies
|
@Rs.50 * 60 participants
|
3,000
|
||
Documentation
|
Video and print
documentation including printing of the workshop report
|
30,000
|
||
Total cost of the
workshop
|
76,750
|
|||
12
|
MONITORING AND
EVALUATION
|
|||
Monitoring / Supportive
supervision by a team consisting of persons from WCD, Home, police academy
and NGO
|
@ Rs.5,000 per
quarter * 4 quarters * 464 help desks, swadhar and short stay and children's
home
|
9,280,000
|
||
Total M & E cost
|
9,280,000
|
|||
TOTAL BUDGET
|
39,971,750
|
|||
