250 women attend Domestic Violence Act awareness camp in Shaheen Bagh
A free legal help camp was organised at Shaheen Bagh today where women were sensitise about coming forward to report domestic violence. A report by Zaheer-ul-Hasan
Awareness about the Domestic Violence Act and the legal proceedings were explained to the women present by a team of legal experts, said the team which organised the event. The camp was attended by over 250 women, and counseling about the Domestic Violence Act was provided to women.
Senior Advocate of Supreme Court Sandhya Bajaj, Advocate Momin Ahmad and Advocate Sanay Dutt also interacted with the women and gave them personal legal advice.
Information about affordable resources and avenues for legal help and rehabilitation of domestic violence survivors was also provided.
The legal experts told the women that the Domestic Violence Act is in their favour and they should not tolerate any hostile behaviour from the police.
The women were counselled to be aware of the small nuances, as they have a big effect on the legal proceedings or the direction of the case.
The event was organised by Awaz-e-Khwateen, a Delhi-based NGO, working for women.
The camp was organised in collaboration with the Social Pride Welfare Society. Both the NGOs have done extensive work in the field and have glorious stories of positive change in the society.
Awaz-e-Khwateen said the dip in registration of domestic violence cases in 2020 was bothersome.
“The pandemic has exacerbated the situation, domestic violence is on a rise, but the staggering dip shows women are not coming forward. There is a direct link between times of crisis like these and interpersonal violence. Domestic violence has considerably increased during the pandemic due to financial instability, and isolation,” it said.
Delhi recorded the highest number of domestic violence cases during the nearly two-months-long lockdown period, this emphasises the importance of awareness campaigns like these, it said.
