3rd
Capacity session was conducted by the Center for social action on the 22nd
September 2016 at Salvation Church Dadar. The topic was legal rights with a
specific focus on the Domestic Violence Act (2005). The resource persons for
the workshop were representatives of the well known organization Majlis. The
participants were around 48 representatives of various CBOs and CCO’s.
They
covered following topics :
1.
Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act (2005)
Women includes – Mother, Daughter, Sister,
Mother-in-law, female live-in partner.
2.
A woman cannot file a case of
domestic violence against another woman. Hence it has to be against a male
person and male family members associated with the abuser.
3.
What is violence- not only
physical, verbal , mental abuse. Also depriving food to children, not providing money for education of
children, etc.
4.
When filing an FIR one should
take down the name, designation and contact number of the person filling the
FIR and also ask for his superior’s name and designation.
5.
A copy of the FIR must be given
immediately and free of cost.
6.
If the police is not filing
your complaint, you can write your own application, submit it at the inward
desk and get a stamp of acknowledgement from the Inward Desk.
7.
If a woman calls 103 in the
case of Rape, the Police can go home and record the FIR at home.
8.
You can file an FIR anywhere,
irrespective of jurisdiction. This is called a ZERO FIR. This ZERO FIR has to
be transferred by the filing police station to the relevant police station
within 48 hours.
9.
In the case of Rape or any
other sexual offence it is important to get a Medico legal certificate from the
Government or Private Hospital. With domestic violence it is better to get the
certificate from a Government Hospital.
10. It is important to preserve case papers/ documentation at the NGO
level as such documents can be helpful for a victim at the time of Trial.
Under the Dv Act Protection Officers are appointed. They
explained what their duties and responsibilities were and the various
initiatives of the State to make these services more accessible to the public.
Several trainings and sensitization workshops were also conducted for the
Police and other staff to improve their understanding of their responsibilities
as representatives of the law enforcement. Also they spoke about the Rights of
a Woman at a Police Station, filing of Zero FIRs, things to keep in mind when
filling an FIR, how to talk in the language of the Police, and other small tips
that social workers could use in various cases. They highlighted 3 main areas
of Documentation of cases, Evidence Collection, and Consent terms in the case
of dissolving or closing a case. Simple strategies and tips were provided so as
to reduce mistakes that would otherwise hurt the client and her case. Although
the workshop was a short one the participants felt empowered with more
knowledge and information that they could take back to the community and their
homes. Feedback from the participants was positive with a stress on more
sessions on other laws as well.
The session was very interesting for the participants as most
of them knew about the DV Act; however, there were still several misconceptions
and questions regarding the same which were aptly addressed by Ms.Sindhu and
Farhat.
