612 domestic violence cases reported to One-Stop Centre in a year

Among the 1,600 cases that were further categorised into 18 types of abuse and harassment, the highest 612 cases were of domestic violence. As many as 14 rape survivors and 12 children who were victims of sexual abuse sought help from the OSC in the period. While the lowest number of cases were of human trafficking, there were no instances of acid attack this time.

The One-Stop Centres (OSCs) are set up by the Union ministry of women and child development for direct intervention in gender-based abuses and other cases of violence against women. OSC workers deal with survivors on a one-to-one basis and also liaison between them and the law enforcement agencies.

Since 2015, 75 OSCs have been set up in Uttar Pradesh under the Centre’s Mission Shakti scheme. Not only do they provide advocates from DLSA (District Legal Services Authority) to help the women get justice, but they also provide rehabilitation, counselling, and vocational training to the victims of gender abuse.

The OSCs are also responsible for the rescue and rehabilitation of the survivors.

Kalpana Kumari (name changed), 36, from Lucknow said she was married into a family where women were regularly subjected to verbal and physically abuse. The elder women in the family, including her mother-in-law, confided in her that they too had been a victim of the same mistreatment by their husbands and sons.

“We were not permitted to have an opinion or disagree with the men in the household. They even beat me with shoes and sticks. When my husband, who is in the merchant navy, also did not protest this treatment, I started trying to seek help,” she said.

Kumari alleged that she had approached the Hazratganj Mahila Thana, where no official paid any heed to her complaint. It was her brother who accompanied her to the OSC in the city which counselled and rehabilitated her. After completing her master’s degree, she is now in her final year of LLB degree. At present, she works as a facilitator at the OCS.

In another instance, the OCS was tipped off about an 18-year-old woman who was being forced to work for a household in the city as a bonded labourer. She had been working there since she was a minor. Neither was she paid the ₹10,000 monthly wage that she was promised, nor was she allowed to call her family. Her employer verbally abused her as well, according to her statement to an OCS worker.

Not only was the young woman rescued and reunited with her elder brother, but the OCS also ensured that she got all her pending dues from her employer.

“Most cases of domestic abuse were reported from the more developed and ‘urban’ parts of the city as people in rural areas tend to believe that a little bit of violence is commonplace in a marriage,” said Archana Singh, the in-charge of OSC, Lucknow. It gets most of the cases through its tollfree number (181), apart from emails and notices from non-profits that work for women’s rights, she added. The OCS also deals with POCSO, missing persons, child labour and bonded labour, workplace harassment and child marriage cases as well.

Survivors are counselled at every One-Stop Centre, she said, and “if there is a single mark on their body from the violence they were subjected to”, an immediate medical check-up is held so that there is evidence to present in court.

“We try to provide holistic assistance to victims and follow up on the cases for up to 6 months,” added Singh.

As part of its rehabilitation programme, the OSC, Lucknow provides vocational training to such women. One such programme is a beautician training course, currently being offered by Lakme, and, at present, has 60 candidates. The needlework training centre at the OSC was to be inaugurated on Thursday.

In 2022-23, the OSC here provided shelter to 431 women, lodged FIRs on behalf of 33, rescued 239 and helped another 480 women get medical assistance, the in-charge said.