Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Sept 9: Authorities in district Srinagar have set in motion the process of establishing a One Stop Centre (OSC) for women facing physical violence, sexual, physiological, or emotional abuse in private and public spaces, within the family, community, and at the workplace and provide specialized services to them ranging from legal aid to necessary counseling to deal with the trauma.
A centrally sponsored scheme, formulated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) under the sub-scheme of Umbrella Scheme for National Mission for Empowerment of Women. In this regard, to begin with, the District Administration has started the recruitment process under which various posts will be filled in days to come.
Officials said that in this regard, applications have been invited from eligible candidates for nearly 9 posts which include Central Administrator, female only and the necessary qualification has been set as Master’s in Law/Social/Work/Sociology/ Psychology/Social Science with an experience of working for women related issues.
The other posts include Psycho-social Counsellor, female only, Para-Legal Personnel/ Lawyer, Office Assistant with Computer Knowledge, Para-Medical Personnel, female only, apart from two more posts.
The officials said that the appointment is going to be purely temporarily on consolidated honorarium as per guidelines/ norms of the scheme, subject to satisfactory performance, continuation of the scheme, and funding from the government.
About the services, the officials said that the OSC is going to provide Emergency Response and Rescue Services which has in it rescue and referral to be provided to the women who are affected by the violence of any form and the same is going to be achieved with a linkage which will be developed between several other existing services such as 108 service and the police control room.
Further, they said, the OSC will also ensure that the necessary medical assistance is provided to the affected women and taken to a nearby hospital for necessary assistance and examination as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The One Stop Centre (OSC) will also assist women in lodging the First Investigation Report (FIR) apart from psycho-social counseling which will be provided on call.
The counseling will be aimed at giving women confidence and support to address violence while the same will be done following a code of ethics, guidelines, and protocols laid down by the concerned Ministry.
Concerning the legal aid to the women affected by violence, the same would be provided at the OSC with the help of Lawyers or the National/ State/District Legal Service Authority.
Under the legal aid, the affected woman will get an advocate of her choice in case she wants to engage the same to assist the State Prosecutors in trying her case. The Lawyer /Prosecutor has been tasked to simplify legal procedures for the aggrieved woman apart from advocating for her exemption from court hearings.
The OSC will also provide the service of temporary shelter to the affected women while as for the shelter on a long-term basis the necessary arrangements will be made with Short Stay Homes. At the same time, the women affected by violence along with their children, girls of all ages, and boys up to 12 years of age can avail temporary shelter at the OSC for a maximum period of 5 days.
More importantly, the OSC will also facilitate speedily and hassle-free police and court proceedings by making arrangements for the video conferencing facility. With the help of the facility, the aggrieved woman can record the statement for the police, and courts from OSC while the same facility will be provided after necessary consultation with officials dealing with the case.
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