The Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi has emphasized that 33 percent of police force in every Police Station should be women to establish a system of automatic sensitization towards crimes against women. The Minister said that having ‘all women’s police stations’ further leads to the problem of segregation. She was speaking at a roundtable conference on ‘Gender Violence and Access to Justice: Assessment, Analysis and Policy’ in New Delhi today.
Highlighting the need for setting up one-stop crises centres for female victims of violence, Smt. Maneka Gandhi said that the Women’s Helpline cannot be completely effective till there is a one stop solution for women affected by violence especially rape. Such a solution will be provided at these crises centres which the Ministry proposes to set up and will be manned by nurses, psychologists, social workers, police among others.
Smt. Maneka Gandhi also highlighted the role of economic power as the main tool for gender equality, for which women must be trained to become economically independent. She said that Women Training Centers can be set up through the PPP model, for which the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development is willing to provide funds
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The Ministry is already working on the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme in 100 districts of the country with emphasis on awareness and advocacy through media and secondly by insisting on institutional deliveries, the Minister explained. The Ministry is working on a massive revamp of the Anganwadi system to help reduce malnutrition among children especially among girls, she said.
Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi also released a book ‘Gender Identity and Violence- Female Deselection in India’ by Rainuka Dagar on the occasion.
The conference was organized by Institute for Development & Communication, India and International Development Research Centre, Canada. Academicians and civil society organisations participated in the seminar.
