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THE POLICY FOR WOMEN AND CHILD SAFETY IN INDIA....
https://www.instagram.com/armyboy6695/
FOLLOW ME ON :-https://indianyouthlifestyle.blogspot.com/
THE POLICY FOR WOMEN AND CHILD SAFETY IN INDIA....
This is the truly sensitive issue in India regarding the safety for women and the child,but here I am going to make this blog on Fundamental Rights for THE WOMEN AND THE CHILD...
FOCUS TO ENSURE A SAFE AND SECURE, WOMEN-FRIENDLY COUNTRY
Ensuring a Safe and Secure, Women-Friendly Country
INDIA…the God’s own country! We celebrate the grandeur of the world’s
richest temple and take pride in our literacy rates. We have the country’s most educated
womenfolk and entrepreneurs among us. But the security and protection we provide to women
within our country doesn’t do justice to this heritage. Our roads and public transport are not at all safe
for women and travelling alone at night in the city is a nightmare.
TABLE 1: STATE CRIME RECORDS BUREAU: CRIME AGAINST WOMEN
Reported Cases on Crimes against Women
S.No DISTRICT RAPE
MOLESTATION
KIDNAPPING
EVE TEASING
DOWRY
DEATH
CRUELTY BY
HUSBAND/
RELATIVES
OTHER
OFFENCES
TOTAL
Perception of safety is a state of mind. First and foremost, women should feel safe. She should be
most comfortable while inside the city. Some cities are perceived to be safer for women than others.
This is based on the crime rates happening in those cities and the measures taken to curb them.
Steps taken against anti-social elements also help in strengthening the perception of security in the
minds of women. This perception is of utmost importance to boost her confidence and moral
strength.
In the ranking of the world’s crime records, hacking has taken the gold; murder, the silver; and rape
pulls alongside these with a bronze. There are many more alarming statistics just like this. We do not want our country to contribute to these anymore and for that, the time to act is now.
Women and girls are frequently subject to violence and abuse – from physical and verbal
harassment to assault and rape – in country streets, public transportation or in their own
neighborhoods. Such daily occurrences limit the rights and freedoms of women as equal citizens to enjoy their neighborhoods and cities.
One of the major concerns for women in urban areas is safety in public spaces in both the
developed and developing world. Sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence occur everyday for women and girls globally. It happens on streets, in and around schools and workplaces, in parks, in public sanitation facilities, and in neighborhoods. Violence and sexual harassment in public spaces restrict women's freedom of movement, reduce their access to essential services, and negatively impact their health and well being.
Even for one of the most heinous crimes like rape, the conviction rate is very low. If so, one can imagine what might be the situation with smaller cases of crime and assault against women.
The following document should be focused on women and the vulnerabilities they face in their day to day lives and how women safety and security can be further improved in the country and make it a women safe country.
These are the points to focus in the following:
Infrastructural up-gradations and modifications , especially in public spaces
Adoption of suitable technology to ensure timely interventions
Introduction of women friendly public transport systems
Strengthening the law and order system
Fostering support from the general public by engaging them effectively across various
levels and sections of the society including educational institutions, corporates, tourists and
other stakeholders.
The document has been framed with the understanding that the responsibility to ensure the safety
and security of women is a joint one, involving support and coordination from all the stakeholders
including the government, the police and other state departments, private organizations, the
citizens and importantly, from women themselves also.
FOCUS ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND PUBLIC SAFETY..
1. It is observed that it is imperative to provide clean, covered and safe bathrooms and toilets for
women in and around public places like bus stands and railway stations. Public toilets for ladies
are quintessential, especially with ladies staff (this is in contrary to the system now where men
sit outside ladies toilets).
2. The waiting rooms at the railway stations should be safe, under surveillance of the police
cameras. It should have women security 24/7.All the platforms should be well lit after dusk.
3. Bus shelters should be well lit.
4. Street lighting has to be intensified throughout the city, especially in nooks and corners,
suburban and rural areas
5. Urban design and planning can make an impact on women’s experience of safety. For example,
use of spaces for a diversity of purposes is more conducive to the production of safety. The
concept of ‘eyes on the street’, as advocated by sociologists like Jacobs, is the only solution to
lack of safety, rather than getting people off the streets. Diversity in the use of public spaces is
the need of the day.
6. Also in this regard, for the existing malls and shopping complexes, CCTV surveillance in the way
to the restroom is essential. Proper lights are needed and all doors should have proper latches
etc. A female staff near the toilet is required. For long term, the town planning has to note under
Corporation rules that toilets have to be located close to the busy areas ,especially when more
malls are likely to spring up in future in the road to development.
7. Proper protection should be given in public parks and multi level parking areas.
8. Access to safe public telephone booths.
TECHNOLOGY
1. The innovative use of Information Technology in tools like Safety apps, connected to the control
room with GPS is very essential to protect women.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT SAFETY:
1. Strengthening of the public transport system: This safety measure is a multi pronged approach
and applies to autos, taxis, buses etc. Buses with surveillance cameras (minimum of two
cameras) and woman conductors or guards will instill a sense of confidence and safety for
women. This is not only during nights but also during day time. Also,
private buses and autos should be brought under this ambit and be under the GPS system. And specific regard at nights (evening 6p.m to midnight) and early morning (from 4 a.m.). There
should be special buses (Private and public) with good connectivity among the different routes.
This can also be connected to police stations.
2. All autos and taxis should have meters which are enabled with GPS and SOS button as in
cities etc. The State may provide subsidies for enabling this technology so that the
owners are not financially jeopardized. The Honorable State can pass an ordinance for the
provision of the same and facilitate an amendment of the Motor Vehicles Act in future.
3. Every bus should have a few panic buttons which alerts the police control room so as to run to a
lady in distress.
4. Airport, railway and bus stations need special focus, especially during odd hours. Also, special
fares for taxis etc should be enforced. Otherwise affordability factor might prevent them from
opting to a better mode of safety. Autos also play a critical role and therefore there is a
need observed for more number and visibility of Mahila auto rickshaws and taxis across the
cities. Nevertheless the safety for women auto drivers should also be given importance whilst
they protect others.
POLICE INTERVENTION AND SUPPORT:
1. Police patrol to be intensified. It is better to have them in bikes to ensure effectiveness,
efficiency and a wider reach.
2. Activate police stations: For e.g., FIRs have to be properly registered, followed by filing of
charge sheet etc and law has to take its due course etc. Every police station should have
sufficient police personnel, communication systems should be in place and prompt especially
telephones, adequate jeeps etc.
3. Safety should be ensured within the police department from the lowest rungs in the ladder.
Recruiting more women in the police service is also a progressive step towards safety and
empowerment.
4. During festivals, women and children have to be given special protection in public
areas and thereby be prevented from eve teasing and other crimes. Special Forces should be
deployed for protecting women. They should be given proper protection.
5. Women and Child welfare Cops: A special mandate may be brought about to initiate women and child welfare cops. Special attention should be paid to employ morally and physically strong police men for the same.
SENSITISATION AND SENSITIVITY TO WOMEN’S NEEDS:
1. A women protection force from police department will be a progressive idea for law and order situation to improve women’s safety.
2. Ladies police stations are an important need of the hour.
3. Awareness campaign like “walk to health” or “Run Women Run” zones or “walk zones”. Most
women are afraid to involve themselves in physical activity and exercise because of lack of
safety in the streets, roads and parks. Hence, if streets and junctions are under surveillance, this would go a long way in ensuring a safe, healthy and happy state of mind and body for women.
Even in the evenings, proper lighting and other infrastructure are required here.
4. Setting up of online help lines and sharing the details with all the women who could be reached by women if they encounter unsafe situations
There have been several instances of threatening and other crimes associated with it. Movie
theaters can have an area allotted to women and also more strict ticket queues that are effective
to ensure women are not indecently touched etc. The toilets there and the way to the same have to be well lit and manned by women personnel.
5. Drivers’ orientation is also very relevant and should be certainly implemented.
6. Awareness programmes and workshops have to be given to both men and women on women’s
safety, especially in rural and suburban areas. Also education regarding their rights is very
important.
7. The institutions and organizations that engage/employ boys and men are to be oriented
towards the consequences of crime against women.
8. Training and orientation programmes may be given periodically to private bus drivers, conductors and cleaners. Auto drivers may also be included in this category (This problem is more in the rural areas..
9. Gender sensitization through proper education: Educating boys and girls, the need to respect women and safety measures right from schools and colleges (Also as per Verma Committee Report).
10. Empowering a group of able women in rural and suburbs to spread awareness amongst those in their neighborhoods on the rights of women and how women can ensure their own safety.
11. Huge media support and awareness needed for the campaign-TV, papers, radio.
12. .Have ambassadors for the project like renowned people in respective realms to mobilize and spread awareness, directly, at their areas and spaces and in the media.
13. In areas that are away from the mainstream city, cable TV system of safety can be tried out with the help of remote control buttons or switches to activate the nearby police stations in cases of attacks on women or housebreaking or even when some danger is lurking, as sensed by the lady of the house.
14. Provide self defense training programmes for all women.
15. Pocket book on personal safety and useful tips to mitigate unsafe situations can be printed and circulated widely.
16. Toll free numbers to register such complaints and immediate and stern action against such individuals be launched.
17. Another step in the line of education is that empowered women in towns should help the less fortunate and educate them to help distinguish a bad touch and a good touch.
18. Reverting to the point of education in schools, curriculum should include ways to educate boys on respecting women and treating them as equals. The Government Education department can help in this initiative.
19. Very importantly, fast track courts to punish the culprits should be set up. Apart from the fact, that justice delayed is justice denied, the punitive and deterrent element of a punishment gets diluted. A criminal has to be put to trial immediately so that society will remember.
20. The plight of unorganized sector women is important. Gauging the safety scenario of these women employees who work on daily shift basis on nominal salaries with inadequate legal safeguards is a must. They have to be provided travel and commutation safety to and from the workplace. This also includes the case of smaller format retail outlets. Similarly, areas near slum settlements have to be made safe for women.
WORKING WOMEN, TOURISTS AND STUDENTS:
1. Technopark area-special focus, in all aspects like transportation, police patrolling etc. Strict implementation of policies in companies is required for protecting women working in night shifts. This includes
a) A lady guard in the vehicle which drops them home.
b) A woman should never be dropped last.
In case of mishaps there should be a Local Complaints Committee (LCC) or Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to look into issues pertaining to the same.
2. In areas where there is scanty no of women in the workforce, special focus is needed to ensure women’s safety. However on the other hand, even in areas where workforce is largely women, infrastructure and other support for women’s safety are needed.
3. Migrant women, in quest of job and other vocations need safe accommodation and their
movement in the city should be safe and peaceful. The police have to offer them 24x7 help lines to contact during emergencies and Women’s commission may further pursue and take up the matter effectively so as to provide the women in distress justice and prevent or deter similar mishaps in the future (For example, spas and parlours, massage centres etc).
4. Fisherwomen folk, due to their nature of work and odd hours of work have to be guaranteed safety in zones they move about. Also in local markets and night markets, security measures have to be taken for women.
5. In the country, it is observed that in the areas in and around tuition classes, hostels and libraries safety of girl students and women is at stake. Therefore, police scrutiny surveillance and patrolling is essential. Streets and areas near libraries have to be well lit and have police surveillance and patrolling till its closing hours – a very crucial measure to ensure the safety of girl students. Even public libraries and college libraries have to be given guidelines by police and sensitized on safety of women. For university libraries etc, police surveillance is needed.
Even toilets are areas that have to be made safer with women staff etc. Even women security
(can be appointed by the private institution or the police in public libraries)is essential to walk around even inside the library since it can be secluded between the rows and shelves, at certain hours etc.
6. The safety of women tourists is another aspect that calls for major introspection, this includes,
a) Granting of licenses to hotels and accommodations for women tourists,
b) Employee’s records ad background check should be proper.
c) There should be random checks from the state on a regular basis.
d) In tourist hotspots, there should be more guards, women police stations, and surveillance cameras.
e) Local transportation that includes tourist friendly transport facilities.
f) Basic facilities like safe and clean bathrooms.
g) Tourist helpdesks at airports and railway stations.
h) Routine checks and inspections at hotels and resorts.
i) Speedy justice and immediate penalty for crimes relating to tourist women also.
j) In areas where local panchayats have to be activated
(as per the provision of Local Panchayati Raj Act) to ensure safe and moral
functioning of hotels and resorts in their areas.
SOCIAL FACTORS:
1. Vices like alcohol, drugs etc has to be checked to curtail the amount of crimes against women, taking into account the larger picture. Breath analyzers have to be used more effectively.
2. Sex rackets should be busted and whoever promotes supports or protects them should be severely punished to ensure the safety of women.
3. Government should frame a strict policy regarding the structure and functions of the Beverages Corporation. Beverage outlets in the rural areas are a nuisance for the girls and the women who use the pathways nearby or stay near the outlets.
4. Use of drugs is to be totally banned and people who sell or buy drugs should be punished.
Conclusion
1. As there are these many reported crimes, it is evident that there exist many more unreported cases because of fear and social stigma. We need to considers it a necessity that we present focus to make country a safe haven for women.
2. Criminal jurisprudence testifies that sexual violence is an act of power as much as it is a manifestation of a sexual desire. Therefore all the rights of women’s rights have to be respected,
protected and fulfilled be it right to property, right to health, education and life with dignity. The law and order, security has to look into these crimes specifically and effectively curb them with an iron hand.
3. Lack of safety prevents women from fully participating in the life of the city. Thus providing safety or finding solutions also need to be observed within a framework of rights. Only then can women access the full range of rights of being a true citizen.
4. We implore and pray that these recommendations are implemented by this honorable country which will rewrite the destinies of woman kind, thereby protecting their most fundamental freedom as enshrined in the Constitution of India, to make Country a safe haven for women.
CHILD SAFETY
In India, child abuse is highly misunderstood. Most parents fail to look beyond safety in terms of constant chaperonage. Child abuse may take many forms – from physical violence to sexual abuse, from emotional neglect to malnutrition, discrimination to exploitation. The nation suffers from a deep seated awareness of the various forms of abuse and neglect that children suffer from.
Child Labour
A look at the country’s child labour scenario is heart wrenching. The 2011 Census report pegs the number of working children in the country between 5 and 14 years of age to be at 43.53 lakh. A number of NGOs, however, believe that the official count falls short, that the number of child labourers in the country is far more. Despite the presence of a Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act which details some 18 occupations and 65 processes which are hazardous and in which child labour may not be employed, it is estimated that a number of these regularly employ children under 14 years. Manufacturing of match sticks, crackers, and precious stone cutting sector have to be highlighted as some of the hazardous occupations that employ children. Agriculture engages about 60 percent child labour. Poverty, lack of social security, and lack of wage negotiability are key reasons for employment of child labour in the country. According to UNICEF India has the greatest child labour force in the world. While domestic labour is rampant, nothing much is done about it until some case of abuse crops up in the media.
Child Trafficking
According to a news report from 2014, about 135,000 children are estimated to be trafficked in India each year. Trafficked children are sold into slavery, domestic servitude, beggary, and the sex industry. Children are kidnapped and often even bought from remote villages, more from impoverished families. The child trafficking industry is India’s greatest shame and yet very little has been done about it in terms of policing. In a number of states, powerful cartels manage trafficking, buying off parents and the police to keep away legal restrictions. According to Childline India, some 1,000 to 1,500 children are smuggled from India to Saudi Arabia each year to beg during the Hajj. Child trafficking is highest in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
Child Sex Abuse
Sexual abuse is one of the greatest threats to the safety and health of Indian children. Child sex abuse (CSA) has been on the rise in the nation. About 10 percent of the urban homeless in the country are children and one in every two urban homeless child is believed to be sexually abused. The horrifying reality of CSA has just about started to dawn on the nation. According to a recent news report, about eight cases of sex crimes against children have been registered each day over the past two years but conviction rates are as low as 24 percent. In cases of CSA, boys are just as much at risk as girls, says a UNICEF report. According to a study of 13 Indian states 69 percent children reported being physically abused of which 54.6 percent were boys. In cases of CSA, 88.6 percent children were abused by a parent or a close family member. Much of the trafficking is conducted under the guise of marriage – especially that of young girls under 14 to much older men.
Malnutrition and Disease Prevention
While it is not clearly visible in urban regions and among the middle class, malnutrition is one of the greatest threats to the children of our country. About 30 percent of the malnourished children of the world live in our country. Control of preventable disease is another area where Indian children are extremely vulnerable. While polio has been eradicated thanks to the extensive drive undertaken by the government, there are a number of vaccines and inoculations that can save precious lives but are not administered due to ignorance or poverty. According to the United Nations, about 4 children die in India every minute, most of these from preventable conditions and diseases such as pneumonia, malaria, diarrhoea, measles, typhoid etc. About 2.1 million children in the country die before they are 5 years old. According to the National Urban Health Mission, “More than 46 percent of urban poor children are underweight and almost 60 percent of urban poor children miss total immunisation before completing one year.” While undoubtedly much is being done is the field of mother and child health by the union and the state governments, poverty and subsequent malnourishment still remain looming menaces.
Female Foeticide & Gender Discrimination
Despite being proud of a legacy of strong queens and women leaders, girl children are not safe in the country. That is, if they are born at all. Female foeticide and gender discrimination are rampant, so much so that the sex ratio in many states is skewed and calamitous. According to news reports, the sex ratio in India as of 2014 is 943 females to 1000 males. Some states are well below this national average – Haryana has a sex ratio of 879 females to 1000 males. An allied evil is discrimination based on the child’s gender. Girl children in India are often denied education and healthy nutrition too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ campaign is one giant step in generating awareness and combating this evil, and yet India has to make much progress in this area. Female foeticides are surprisingly, much higher in number in urban India than in rural areas.
CHILDLINE 1098
India Foundation (CIF) launched a toll free helpline CHILDLINE in 1996 to aid children in distress. The initiative is supported by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) and focuses on street children who are victims of abuse. The toll free number 1098 is manned round the clock and operates in 291 cities or districts of the country providing support to children in need. Over 31 million calls have been attended to since inception making a great headway in the field of child safety and protection.
What Can I Do?
Report – Report all cases of suspected child abuse in your vicinity to the police, CHILDLINE, or the appropriate NGO for the safety and protection of the child/children involved.
Donate – Donate generously to NGOs such as the Akshaya Patra Foundation which help in providing midday meals to about 1.4 million children each day.
Volunteer – Volunteer to spend a few hours each week with Teach for India – a programme that aims at providing quality education to underprivileged children.
Promote – Promote the cause of girl children under programmes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaigns through your family and friends.
Connect – Connect with various NGOs and organisations working towards protection and safety of children in your neighbourhood.Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.
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