PANJIM: Goa State Commission for Women (GSCW) chairperson Ranjita Pai on Wednesday said that the State government is planning to launch a scheme for rehabilitation of domestic violence survivors.
Speaking at a programme organised by NGO ARZ, she said the initiative will be taken up jointly by the State Commission for Women and India International University of Legal Education and Research (IIULER).
Pai pointed out that the Commission handles around two to three cases of domestic violence in a fortnight.
She said it is a big concern that domestic violence victims are not getting justice on time.
“Laws related to domestic violence cases are very good, but there is a need of their implementation. Those laws are not being implemented properly and that is why victims are facing problem. Attitude of police personnel too are sometimes not good,” Pai said.
Pai said the Commission will recommend the government to appoint lady Block Development Officers (BDOs), Child Development Project Officer (CDPOs) or dedicated women officers as protection officers to handle domestic violence cases in Goa under the provisions of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.
PI Mira D’Silva e Pednekar said women should muster courage and report any incident of violence.
“If you see anything happening wrong with you, report it immediately. Do not ignore it. Your ignorance emboldens culprits, which make them commit bigger crimes in future,” she said.
The police officer also advised students to know self defence techniques and not to develop friendships with strangers on social media.
“Girl students should avoid mingling with strangers on social media and must share problems, if any they face, with their parents or family members,” she said.
Judge Vijaya Ambre, Member Secretary of State Legal Services Authority (SLSA), said, “It must be remembered that our safety is in our hand. We must make ourselves strong. Women need to identify their power. They need to be alert. Incidents take place because we do not pay attention to what is happening in our vicinity.”
Director of ARZ Arun Pandey urged the govt to undertake a statistical survey of domestic violence cases in the State to understand the magnitude of the problem and devise policies to tackle the problem.
Pandey also said there is a need to set up taluka level one stop centres to help women in distress and take a review of the reason why such cases are not resolved by the related courts in time bound manner.
