OSC and Domestic Violence in Goa

One of the first cases on the 4th day after inauguration of OSC South was referred by ARZ. We were requested to provide shelter to a young woman Azim (name changed) who had run away from home due to domestic violence and had been picked up by a male from Vasco and they were in a live in relationship. After psycho-social counselling, survivor opened up to the counsellor the violence, trafficking and robbing by her live in partner. We immediately assisted her in drafting a complaint and got the accused arrested. Followed by the complaint, other legal procedures like medical examination of the victim, counselling and legal assistance was also provided. The story doesn’t end there. The survivor who was originally from Delhi was sent back safely by our team and support was provided when she was called back for the legal proceeding. LPSI Nihananda Taveres, was police facilitator, OSC South at that time. Azim received all the above facilities at SAKHI OSC South Goa without any hassle. Azim was one of the women assisted of 1728 cases at SAKHI (OSC) South Goa since inception in November 2019. The OSC North which came in 2015 assisted more than 3000 women and across India 668,139 women have been assisted by OSCs between 2015 -2022 according to the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Why do we need OSCs? Domestic violence or intimate partner violence, is a global problem that violates women’s fundamental human rights. The situation is even worse in India, where the tragic reality is that domestic violence persists despite the country’s stringent laws protecting women. An effective initiative of One Stop Crisis Centre adopted and implemented in India in 2015 under the Mission Shakti initiative by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, is a facility that provides integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces. The OSC provides a range of services such as police facilitation, legal aid, psycho-social counselling, medical aid, and temporary shelter in an integrated manner, under one roof, for violence-affected women. OSCs addresses the needs of women throughout their whole life cycle, including women who have experienced any form of violence, including rape attempts, sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking, crimes committed out of honor, acid assaults, or witchcraft. The OSC is a safe space for women to seek assistance and remedy, regardless of their age, class, caste, level of education, marital status, race, or culture. The remark made at the panel discussion in the public domain on OSCs are run by NGOs only in Goa is not true and need to be clarified. Goa is not the only state where NGOs were running OSCs. Before making a statement, there is no proper study. In Maharashtra, 16 out of 20 are run by implementing agency as well as in several other states NGOs are managing successfully. The reason being that NGOs have adequate experience, support systems and resource personnel in implementing women and child related projects and they also work in coordination with the government. The guidelines also specify that the selection of NGOs will be done through a transparent process, and the selected NGOs will be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Government/ UT Administration. For the same reason in Goa too after analyzing the work of Bailancho Ekvott and other NGO were invited to take up the scheme and run the program. There is a task force monitoring and assisting OSCs to carry forward the scheme. The Task Force consists of following members: Director Women and Child Development, Collectors north and south, Superintendent of Police, Secretary DLSA, Chief Medical Officer, District Panchayat Officer, the District Child Protection Officer and several authorities. The One Stop Centres in the South and North operate around the clock. We respond to police calls even in the middle of the night in order to help the victim. Numerous success stories emanate from our Centres, and the OSC has helped women not only in Goa but also across the borders and even abroad where we were able to assist women who had been impacted by violence. A family came to our centre in 2022 looking for assistance for their daughter, who had left home to work as a domestic maid and was being tormented and physically restrained by her employers in the Gulf. We took action promptly, contacted the Indian embassy, made connections with numerous authorities in Goa, Delhi and after a month, we were able to safely bring her back. Similarly a young maid from Mumbai who was unpaid and not permitted to talk to her family back home in Goa. In some circumstances, women who had experienced violence came to us and asked to be counselled and helped to reconcile with their husband or inlaws so that they would stop abusing them. Because many women do not opt for break in their marriage and hence prefer mediation and psychosocial counselling. Furthermore, in situations when the woman wishes to file an action against her husband, we support her in doing so by helping her fill out the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence form and writing a report of the domestic incident to the police, who have been informed to forward the same to the protection officer BDO. A prominent woman from Margao, whose marriage was on the rocks approached us for couple counselling. After sessions of counselling, they decided to take that extra step to stay together and are our success story. Domestic violence need not be a court battle. It can be sorted out through counselling. The options depend upon the parties. In both of the dowry deaths that have occurred in South Goa, OSC South is known to have intervened with the SDM and the police immediately. Indeed, in one of the cases of the Vapour Gas Explosion at Mormugao, which resulted in the deaths of three people (one unborn), we assisted the brother/son of the deceased victim and stand by him in getting FIR filed as murder. In Sumantha’s case as well, we have intervened with the SDM and police! Did the individual eulogising success stories in the neighbouring states find out about Goa’s achievements? About success stories of OSC, they are stories of battered and broken women which should not be exposed to public. However, we report weekly, monthly, and quarterly to our authority Director, DWCD and the Collector South. It is not true to suggest that OSCs in Goa cannot handle cases. In the south, we never refused any assistance to the survivor no matter how late. We have received all support from 181, 108, pink force, Superintendent of Police and our task force. This can be checked from the police records. We have even rescued women dying on the streets, admitted them in hospitals and took care of them till the end. OSCs not only handled domestic violence cases but also rescued, rehabilitated and restored many women and children to their families with assistance and co-ordination with OSCs in other distant states in Goa. Bailancho Ekvott was born on 5th October 1992 and have been handling cases of violence and have been attacked etc! Our cause has been violence against women children and the environment. The first case of trafficking of a young woman from North Goa, her rescue, rehabilitation, cure as she was suffering from sexually transmitted disease, was sheltered at Maya Mog Bhavan at Curtorim and restoration to her family to live a life of dignity was one of our stories. Our stories of success and hard dedicated work are numerous specially after the OSC has been entrusted to us but they are not for public consumption due to respect for privacy and confidentiality.