The third basic Capacity Building
Session was conducted by CSA on the 22nd Sept, 2016 at Salvation
Kendra, 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, which is a legal centre that offers
legal services, legal awareness trainings and also work at policy level
interventions, PILs, etc. The participants were around 48 representatives of
various CBOs and CCO’s. The session was very interesting as the participants
knew very little about the DV Act and had quite a few misconceptions as was
evident from the questions raised.
Ms. Sindhu and Farhat covered the 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.
Mishal Dabre
Senior social worker
CSA
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