It’s no secret that women have more often than not suffered in silence, and have preferred to do so than speak up or lodge complaints. But, why do you think that is? For one, fear of being victim blamed or victim shamed, and second, the tedious, and long-drawn process of lodging an official complaint. In an attempt to make it easier for women to come forward, the Vadodara Police are determined to offer women benefits with SHE. This workforce initiative within the Police Bhavan is to create an easy method to file a grievance for any crime against women. Through the initiative, women can not only file a complaint against the perpetrator, but the initiative will create a conducive and nurturing environment for women to speak up, and even be counselled by law enforcement officers skilled to do so.
“One of the key motives of this proposed centre is to encourage women to approach the police if they face any crime. This centre will focus on giving a conducive environment for the women to file complaint or narrate their harrowing experiences,” metropolis police commissioner, Shamsher Singh, told the Times of India (TOI).
Singh also stated that the cost of building this centre, in principle, will be borne by Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T). So far, a police sub-inspector and four cops have been assigned to record all the complaints that have registered. “A technical data centre is also on cards for storing details of all the cases we register. We won’t just keep records of the cases, but also, the action taken by cops that will help us in improving our reaction to such incidents,” Singh told TOI.
He even went on to narrate a recent arrest. Said Singh, “We recently booked a man under PASA after a woman approached our SHE team and complained against him. Investigations revealed that he was involved a similar crime in the past. But this centre and SHE team is not just about the crimes. We are also offering help to women, including the senior citizens.”
If that’s not all, on January 29, the SHE workforce escorted an ailing senior citizen who was residing alone, to a nearby hospital for treatment. We can only expect more stories of triumph from this initiative.
*Image for representational purposes only