The Government of India accords utmost priority to safety of women in the country. The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India have undertaken a number of measures for enhancing safety of women in the country.

 

The Government of India has set up a non-lapsable corpus Nirbhaya Fund for enhancing safety and security of women. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is also implementing Schemes including the Scheme of ‘One Stop Centre’ for violence affected women, the Scheme of ‘Universalisation of Women Helpline’ and the Scheme of ‘Mahila Police Volunteers’ under Nirbhaya Fund Framework.

 

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has been administering various special laws relating to women such as ‘The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005’, ‘The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961’, ‘The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986’, ‘The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013’, and ‘The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006’. The Ministry is also administering ‘The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015’, ‘The Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005’ and ‘The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012’.

 

The Criminal Law (Amendment), Act 2013 was enacted for effective legal deterrence against sexual offences. Further, ‘The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018’ has also been enacted making the punishment for offences like rape more stringent by including death penalty for rape of a girl below the age of 12 years. The Act also inter-alia mandates completion of investigation and trials within 2 months each.

 

In order to coordinate various initiatives for safety of women, a separate Women Safety Division has been set up in Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Further, in order to ensure that the amendments in law effectively translate at ground level, and to enhance women safety in the country, the Government has undertaken a number of measures for implementation. The details are at Annexure-I.

Annexure-I

 

Initiatives taken by Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India for safety of women

 

In order to ensure that the amendments in law effectively translate at ground level, and to enhance women safety in the country, the Government has initiated a series of measures as below:

 

An online analytic tool for police has been launched on 19^th February 2019 called “Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences” to monitor and track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018.

 

“National Database on Sexual Offenders” (NDSO) has been launched by MHA on 20^th September 2018 to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies.

 

Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), which provides a single emergency number (112) based computer aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress has been operationalized in 20 States/ UTs in 2018-19.

 

A cyber-crime portal has been launched on 20^th September 2018 for citizens to report obscene content. Further, Cyber Crime Forensic Labs have been set up in several States, and training of over 3,664 personnel, including 410 Public Prosecutors and Judicial Officers in identifying, detecting and resolving cyber-crimes against women and children has been imparted.

 

Using technology to aid smart policing and safety management, Safe City Projects have been sanctioned in phase-I in 8 cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai) under Nirbhaya Fund.

 

In order to improve investigation, steps have been taken to strengthen DNA analysis units in Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories. This includes setting up of a State-of-the-Art DNA Analysis Unit in Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh. Setting-up and upgrading of DNA Analysis units in State Forensic Science Laboratories in 13 States/ UTs has also been sanctioned under Nirbhaya Fund.

 

Guidelines have been notified for collection of forensic evidence in sexual assault cases and the standard composition in a sexual assault evidence collection kit. To facilitate adequate capacity in manpower, training and skill building programs for Investigation Officers, Prosecution Officers and Medical Officers have commenced. 3,221 Officers have already been trained by Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) and Lok Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science in collection, handling and transportation of forensic evidence. BPR&D has distributed 3,120 Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits to States/ UTs as orientation kit as part of training.

 

This information was given by the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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MM/SB

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