Help an abuse victim fight for justice by ActionAid Association

Gauravi One Stop Centre reached out to 7,905 women in total through several services.

• 1309 cases directly walked in Gauravi for physical support and protection against different forms of violence – Domestic violence, dowry, rape, molestation, trafficking, witch branding, missing girls, child marriage etc.
• We have been able to re-open 6 cases seeking justice for the affected.
• 6599 calls were received for consultation and counselling.

The team operates 24*7 through 3 desk officers, 2 counselors, 2 case workers, 1 center administrator, 2 lawyers and 1 warden for shelter home. The desk officers and case workers are responsible for handling cases received on calls and giving primary attention required. The counselors provide further detailed counseling to chalk out remedy and relief plan for the survivor.

In 10 districts in the state of Madhya Pradesh, we undertook several public actions like: • Recommendations were made for the safety of women with Women and Child Development (WCD) department. 5 women leaders from the community groups met with Mr. Suresh Tomar, Additional Commissioner at WCD Bhopal Office to share their recommendations. • Meetings with Police, Department of WCD and JP Hospital – on sensitization for dealing with women survivors. • 4 orientation programmes with doctors, police, legal aid workers and counsellors to understand the working of OSC (One Stop Centre) • 2 Orientation of the Police with all the Thana InCharge, CSP, DIG and IG at MP

Administrative Academy, Bhopal: A total of 50 high ranking officers were given training. The program is helping women across Bhopal city in raising awareness against Gender Based Violence (GBV) and domestic violence. We conduct 4 outreach meetings every month in different areas of Bhopal to inform women living in slum and semi urban areas about Gauravi and the support we provide. In total we reach out to 100-150 women every month through these meetings.

• Police support is minimal, especially to marginalized women • Shelter for longer periods is not available. Shelter homes do not allow women to go out for work or training, and this obstructs rehabilitation process. More open shelter homes should be made available for women. Education linkages not supported by the state through shelter. • The infrastructure of the shelter homes should be improved, which is not covered in the state budget.

Harsha, 28 years old, was brought to Gauravi by the police as she was found wandering on the streets. Harsha was violent and was not telling her address or any other information to the case worker. She appeared to be in deep trauma and distress. She kept claiming that she was in relationship with a Bollywood actor (who died in 2020) who would come to take her. Harsha was referred for psychiatric counseling at J.P. Hospital. The doctor said that she was not mentally unstable and was undergoing some deep trauma. She will improve through basic medication and regular counselling.

Through regular counselling Harsha was able to reveal that she had lived near a library. But she could not give us a proper address. Our team immediately contacted the police to find out if there is any missing person’s report from the location she had mentioned. However, there was no report like Harsha’s case or description. Having further counseled, Harsha was able to tell us who her father was. With this information, there was a further search and fortunately we were able to find her father. Her father said that he was reluctant to report and was looking for her through different means.

Harsha’s father was also counseled and was advised to provide her with proper psychiatric treatment at the district hospital. Harsha is receiving her treatment and the team is following up her progress.

During this period, Gauravi, an initiative of ActionAid in the state of Madhya Pradesh, undertook several activities for women survivors of violence. We supported 1241 women through registered cases between July and December 2021. This included special assistance to 127 minor girls who faced sexual violence, domestic violence, and abandonment. 50 women who faced sexual violence were assisted, and given counseling therapy and legal aid to pursue their matter in court. The period had a lot of adversities and COVID related impositions, which had an impact on women survivors. • We provided ration to 800 women survivors who were either unemployed or lost their jobs during the pandemic. • 20 community health camps were organized in 'bastis' with maximum participation of women linked with Gauravi. Over 500 women benefited from the same. Women were also given immunity kits consisting of multi vitamins and supplements to build resistance to the infection. • 20 women were linked with State Transport Service (BCCL) for female conductor training. Their training is under process. • 80 women were linked with training with ‘Pradhanmantri Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojna’ for vocational training (sewing, computer and salon training) at Polytechnic College Bhopal. • Our counselor Ms. Rashmi Mishra was felicitated by National Health Mission for providing tele-counseling for quarantine corona patients during second wave. • 3000 women were impacted directly through services at Gauravi, relief distributions and community awareness activities.

In the month of December, we celebrated 16 Days of Activism for Elimination of Violence against women under which discussions were held with women in different community areas. We held a discussion with sex workers on violence they face, and what support could be given to them by state and police. Self-Defence training was given to young girl survivors. Girls learned taekwando (martial art) moves, important helpline numbers and distress management in case of any unwelcome situation. On 8th December 2021, 100 survivor women participated in Candle march in support of survivors of violence and raising awareness among the masses.

On Human Rights Day Celebration at Gauravi OSC, the women community group performed cultural dance. The artifacts and materials made by women were also displayed. The event had representation from Ministry of Women and Child Development, Asst. Director Mrs. Tripti Tripathi and IG Police Mr. Vineet Kapoor. Women shared their concern on increased cases of violence in the 'bastis' and sought solutions to curb the same. The girls also talked about the inaccessible high school in the area and lack of facilities for adolescent girls at the aanganwadi. Mrs. Tripti Tripathi asked the girls to submit an application region wise to highlight the issue.

Women were unable to approach Gauravi during the pandemic as local transport was not functional. They could not access hospitals as OPD was not functioning. Here, the health camps provided by us proved beneficial. The number of cases approaching Gauravi increased during the pandemic. We faced a lack of staff as the staff were also suffering from infections. We hired staff on a per-day consultation basis when our staff was unable to come.

We are planning to expand our outreach in different districts. We have finalized an MU with Harda One Stop Center and will provide capacity building and training to their staff. We are providing gender sensitization training to police cadets and building up alliances with them to have a smooth functioning for cases approaching us.

Sonu, age 23–24, went missing from our home in Gwalior 8 years ago. She wandered around and lost her mental balance. She was brought to Gauravi by the police after she was found roaming around in Bhopal. She was mentally unstable and was not able to recall anything regarding her home or family. With regular counseling, she was able to give us some leads about her home in Gwalior. We immediately contacted Gwalior police and they were able to trace her missing report from 8 years ago. We found out that Sonu was an orphan and lived with her uncle. They had given up hope of finding her but came instantly to Gauravi on hearing about her. She was reunited with her family after a long time. She is still in touch with us and receives tele-counseling.

Gauravi OSCC, a One-Stop Crisis Centre for women, did a detailed study of the situation of women and gender-based violence during the first wave of COVID in the year 2020, following which a report was also published. In 2021, during the second wave of COVID, we again saw a rise in reporting to cases. After the lockdown was lifted in June ‘21 we saw a whooping number of cases registered in Gauravi.The Gauravi Centre was established in 2014 in Madhya Pradesh — the Indian state with the highest rate of violence against women and girls. It was designed as a one-stop shop, where women and girls can access a range of key services when they have experienced sexual and/or domestic violence. These services include a helpline, a safe shelter, medical treatment, counselling, and legal aid. Staff members counsel women and girls sensitively throughout their experience, from providing a safe, secure place to sleep, to finding a lawyer to represent their case. They help women and girls to recover from their trauma and achieve the justice they deserve.Gauravi does not look at women as clients but offers handholding support in the spirit of sisterhood. A friendly milieu facilitates supporting women since they are very intimidated as it is. They require love and friendship to pick up the shards of their lives. They also require justice (legal justice as well as social justice) in the long run. This would give a message that violence is not tolerated in this state which strives for equality towards women. This is what Gauravi is all about. Since the establishment of Gauravi, a tremendous response has been received. People from all over Madhya Pradesh as well as India calling to know about the services and working process of Gauravi. Every call being analyzed by Gauravi staff and weekly follow up of every call made is also being done unless the woman asks us to wait for her call. While high numbers of phone calls are being spoken off, it also shows a mirror of what our society really is and how much we have really developed in terms of the equality of women and the excluded communities.Nearly 485 cases of violence have been recorded and addressed till June of this year. The issues include dowry, rape, child sexual abuse cases, molestation, missing etc.

We observed that the women faced issues while looking for justice and access to supportive facilities: -- In one case a woman named Shanti Dhurve (55) was suffering from T.B. On finding this her husband threw her out of the house. She came to Gauravi where the team tried to get her admitted to the T.B Hospital, but the hospital was turned into a COVID care centre and refused to admit Shanti. With difficulty the team got her admitted to a general hospital, but unfortunately, due to a delay in treatment, she could not survive. An inquiry in her matter was registered against her husband and is still ongoing.-- The centre has 110 matters of maintenance (from husband under Sec.125 Cr. P.C) are pending at the court. The court is still not functioning in its full capacity, this has caused a delay in several matters, leaving women without any financial support. The women were provided ration support through our project supported by Help, Germany. -- We registered 2 cases of triple talaq at the centre. The triple talaq was given to the women during the lockdown and they were left without any sort of support. The women were given shelter in Gauravi for few days as well. Their matters are being prepared to be filed in court and with the police. -- 20 women survivors who are linked with Gauravi, reported having lost their jobs during the lockdown. The team provided the women with ration and trying to look for new opportunities for their financial security. -- 16 cases were registered for Dowry where women were forced to bring money from their maternal home during the lockdown. These cases reflected the scenario that existed during the emergency period which affected women adversely and the specific gender issues were highlighted doubled with violence and harassment. At this time, many women were not able to reach the centre. Therefore, in many cases phone counselling and outreach support systems remained effective methods: 5231 phone calls have been registered during these 6 months; 3471 received counselling; 138 were provided with medical support; 184 members have been helped with police and legal aid; 138 women were given shelter supportRation Distribution: On average 330 kits were distributed every day and the target was to support 4500 to 5000 families during the duration of the project. The volunteers were distributed to over 4318 families in the duration of 20 days because of the severe lockdown. The process was delayed and dilatory given the restrictive milieu, but constant. The details of the distribution and other data are given in Annexure III. The distribution was carried out as per the guidelines and proper precautionary measures were undertaken. There were, however, few volatile incidents like crowding and groping by people, religious intolerance and food riots, given that they were hungry, humiliated and also hopeless at times. These were handled effectively and sensitively with swift support from the police and local leaders, also appealing to the good sense of people and letting them decide the most vulnerable groups and sometimes, by postponing the distribution for that particular day and returning with better dialogue and distribution model. Community Kitchen: Three community kitchens were operational during this period particularly for the migrant population who were on the move now and the homeless population across Bhopal. They were located in Anna Nagar, Vikas Nagar and Kolar. The kitchens displayed a great example of a community coming together in times of distress. The ration was provided by the network but the volunteers’ procured vegetables, fuel/gas, and other requirements from the community and individual donations. The volunteers also supported in cooking, packing and distributing through innovative and environmentally friendly ways. The cooked food packets were of utmost importance, as we were able to reach out to a maximum number of people. The demand was also of gargantuan proportion as we ended up receiving numerous calls from government agencies, police departments, shelter homes, and many others who were good Samaritans trying to feed people in dire need.Vaccination Drive: Apart from the Dignity kits and community kitchens, awareness campaigns and sanitization materials were handed over to communities and volunteers over this period for enhanced understanding of fighting covid 19. Adequate gears were also provided to volunteers in the form of N95 masks, gloves, PPE kits and head caps to ensure that their safety and containment of the contagion. Pamphlets were also distributed in the community for general awareness on COVID and vaccination. Health Camps: ActionAid Association with help of Gauravi organized 20 health camps in different parts of Bhopal. In these camps, medical surveillance and awareness sessions were also included. In these medical camps, professional doctors were called for providing medical consultation. Free medicines were also distributed. In every camp, more than 70 people were provided consultation by doctors. In some areas, women and adolescent girls were also provided free medical check-ups along with special immunity boosting kits. Running Helpline: In this challenging time, ActionAid Association's policy unit with help of Gauravi has begun two COVID helplines. This helpline was designated for very experienced counsellors and doctors’ help and guide home quarantined patients suffering from COVID and guide towards enhanced well–being. The helpline is recognized and partnered with NHM. Further, the policy unit also has partnered with the state on proactive counselling of quarantined and positive people. On average, the helpline receives about 50 calls and further, makes over 30 calls for proactive monitoring and well being of quarantined people.

During the second wave, ActionAid Policy Unit and Gauravi have been conducting holistic health and medical intervention with a strong focus on women and children. A team of 10 doctors has been running a 247 medical helpline and conducting health camps in most marginalized areas of Bhopal and other districts (through a virtual medium) of Madhya Pradesh. Our experience during the health camps has been suggestive of the fact that many women did not get access to government-run healthcare facilities as they were turned into COVID care centres. Many women with ailments that require regular medication like Hypertension, Diabetes, Thyroid, etc. were forced to discontinue medication as they were not able to visit government hospitals. Sheetal Das, 20 years, is an autistic girl suffering from Hypothyroidism. She was living with her mother and brother, who worked as a driver. He was unemployed during second wave COVID related restrictions. When Sheetal visited Gauravi during a health camp, Dr Mridula Jain, discovered that she has not been taking her thyroid medication for the last three months as their income had reduced to zero. Sheetal gained 15 Kgs of weight because of no medication, and this made her dull and largely immobile. Dr Jain counselled her mother to not discontinue her medication as it is important for her well-being. Sheetal was provided medication through Gauravi and was listed at the Jai Prakash Hospital for regular check-ups and receiving medication from the generic pharmacy at low cost. Looking at the impact on income generation avenues and many women who are single and elderly, were out of jobs, Gauravi distributed ration kits to 2000 women during the second wave inclusive of basic medicines and vitamins for immunity boosting. There have been 20 health camps organized and have screened over 1500 women for several ailments and provided medical support. Most women who are linked with Gauravi and are survivors of gender-based violence are working in the informal sector, like street vendors, domestic workers, etc. with no steady source of income and social benefits that could cover them during the lockdown. Women survivors of are single, are the sole earner of their family

Gauravi centre, a one-stop-shop in the state of Madhya Pradesh, provides access for women and girls to a range of key services when they have experienced sexual and/or domestic violence. These services include a helpline, a safe shelter, medical treatment, counselling, and legal aid. Staff members counsel women and girls sensitively throughout their experience, from providing a safe, secure place to sleep, to finding a lawyer to represent their case. They help women and girls to recover from their trauma and achieve the justice they deserve.

Gauravi’s 24x7 helpline started during lockdown for supporting women affected by violence during lockdown has picked up its momentum. People from all over the state and the country have started to call Gauravi. Every call is being analyzed by Gauravi staff and weekly follow up of every call made is also being done unless the woman asks us to wait for her call. While high numbers of phone calls are being spoken off, it also shows a mirror of what our society really is and how much we have really developed in terms of equality of women and the excluded communities.

In 2020 actions have been taken for each of the following cases, registered with us: 499 Domestic violence cases, 132 dowry, 64 rape, and 171 other cases including childmarriage and molestation cases. 1644 people received counselling over phone itself during the year.

On an average, the helpline receives about 50 calls and further, makes over 30 calls daily for proactive monitoring and well-being of quarantined people. A module on ways to initiate counselling for COVID 19 related queries has also been developed. Gauravi’s 500 community volunteers are linked with National Health Mission towards awareness on the pandemic. We conducted health, safety, and hygiene awareness programmes in 25 slum areas all over Bhopal. Our community based organization of domestic workers has over 1100 members in different areas who were directly involved in raising COVID19 related awareness. They are also doing primary health surveillance in communities using thermal sensors and reach out to almost 25,000 people.
A success story:
Pushpa Bairagi, 45, a domestic worker, worked as a cook with several families. Due to corona myths circulating before lockdown, she lost work with some families. She had to pay fees of her children, for which she needed some loan. She asked one of her employers, to provide some advance, instead she was asked to leave and not to continue working. Later the employer blamed her for theft of some gold jewelry and reported to police, the police also took her into custody for questioning. Due to lockdown she was not able to send her family members for any support and one of her neighbors helped the family and decided to call Gauravi. From Gauravi we reached the police station to support the woman. We negotiated a bail and registered the case at Gauravi to continue support to support her, despite the lockdown. The team also supported her with dry ration kit as she was out of job. Presently she is working again and receiving counselling and legal support from Gauravi.

Psycho-Counselling the violence affected women; one billion rising campaign

The number of incidents of rape, dowry and molestation have increased here since many people have walked into Gauravi (OSCC) straight and many have been referred by the police stations.
Case Analysis:
• 73% of women and girls given temporary shelter in Gauravi (OSCC). 93% of them are rehabilitated in their families. Rest are referred for permanent shelter in WCD supported Shelter home and Girl’s Home (Nehru Nagar).
• 220 women are linked with the skill development program. Among them, many are working in reputed firms.
• 32 young girls reached to centre after facing a violent rash of their family members for taking the decision of marrying the groom of their choice. They were given shelter and after counselling with family, married to the groom of their choice. All are living happily.
• 42 young girls abandoned or left home after dispute with family members, rehabilitated in their family.
• 120 women with psychiatric problems were rehabilitated in their family and 12 women were sent for proper treatment to mental asylum located in Gwalior.
Visitors: Mr. Ashish Srivastav, Joint Secretary and Mr. Rabindra Panwar, Secretary, GOI (Ministry of Women & Child Development) visited centre and interacted with women survivors for becoming self-reliant. Team members from British High Commission, Unicef, US consulate, UN, Action Aid international & ActionAid Delhi, GOI and US Embassy also appreciated the work done by Gauravi. Apart from above, a team of aspiring trainee judges, trainee Women and Child Welfare Joint Directors, trainee ADMs, IAS officers, Police Department officials etc also come to understand the work and services provided by Gauravi (OSCC). State Minister (WCD) Mrs. Imarti Devi also visited centre and appreciated the work. She also ordered for expanding the building of OSCC and continued support to the centre and its role.
• Capacity Building Trainings of Women Survivors: Continuing last year’s initiative of rehabilitating women survivors with Government run schemes and training program, many women were provided information as well as linked with training programs in Jan-Feb-Mar 2020. In these training programs, women survivors’ are imparted with skill development training as per their interest; Data entry operator, computer basic learning program, stitching program and Beauty & grooming program. Many women are working after pursuing these training programs and some are working as apprentice. In this practice of making women survivors’ independent, 12 survivors’ were provided e-rickshaw driving training. State Minister Mr. P. C. Sharma handed over e-rickshaw keys to these women driver.
• One Billion Rising Campaign: On 13th Febraury 2020 one day public hearing on issue of VAW was organized for celebrating One Bilion Rising. Public Hearing program was held in Gandhi Bhawan, Bhopal. Program was divided in two parts. Mrs. Sarika Sinha, Action Aider gave speech in context of OBRs and situation of women in MP. After this she welcomed women survivors’ to share their stories. A cultural event was also organized to celebrate women courage. Many special guests from Police Department, Women and Child Development Department and Independent social workers chaired the public hearing. In this event, rehabilitated women survivors’ also shared their experiences of fighting their cases.

Care and support being provided

Program Update

From January to March 2019, we attended 2,113 calls from women and girls seeking assistance from us. We provided counselling and medical support to 2318 and 49 women respectively. 42 First Information Report (FIR) and 9 Domestic Incidence Report (DIR) against patriarchal violence were registered. We provided legal aid to 1018 cases and handled 10 legal cases. 133 women and girl victims were given shelter support. In addition, we have provided training and education to 12 victims as rehabilitation support. Since its inception in 2014, we have supported over 53,000 women and girls on violence related issues.

Story from the field

Rani Singh (Bani) is a 48-year-old woman who has five children. Her husband works with the police. For the last 8 years, Bani’s husband is living with another woman. Bani has since been meeting her daily needs all by herself and with some support provided by her close family members. All her children are married but none of them is supporting her either financially or otherwise. From the past 3 years, her husband and his family members are forcing Bani to leave Bhopal and go back to her family in Mathura. For this reason, she had suffered physical assault and social trauma as well. Bani came to know about Gauravi at an awareness program conducted in her residential area. She came to the centre and registered her complaint. After counselling, her husband began to support financially but discontinued financial support after 6 months. In these 6 months, she was continuously tortured by her in-laws as well as husband’s live-in partner. She was threatened and even physically tortured. Bani has decided to file a case against her husband and in-laws for which Gauravi provided legal assistance. To help recover from the trauma and mental disturbances she has gone through, she has also participated in Chronic Healing Training organised by ActionAid Association for survivor’s psycho-socio healing.

Program Update

The following are some numbers specific to the program -
For the period January to June 2018, we received 6112 calls from women and girls who were seeking for assistance.
We have provided counselling and medical support to 3133 and 125 women respectively.

We helped register 23 First Information Report (FIR) and 18 Domestic Incidence Report (DIR) against patriarchal violence.
We provided legal aid to 208 cases and handled 63 legal cases.
Shelter support for 103 women and girl victims were arranged.

In addition, we have provided training and education to 52 victims as rehabilitation support.

Since its inception in 2014, we have supported over 40,000 women and girls on violence related issues.

Story from the field

Arushi was stalked and harassed by her neighbour, Lehan, who eventually abducted and raped her when she was barely 14 years old. Lehan started messaging Ayushi on Facebook. After she blocked him on Facebook, he later started harassing her on the streets. Ayushi informed her mother who took immediate action and filed a complaint with the police.

Six months after the incident, Lehan abducted Ayushi when she was alone at home. He dropped her back home when Ayushi's parents filed a missing complaint. Ayushi then filed a complaint against Lehan for rape. Lehan's family kept intimidating Ayushi and her parents to withdraw the complaint claiming that Ayushi was having an affair with Lehan and that she gave her consent. Since Ayushi is a minor, her consent was not legal and did not matter in the case. In response, Lehan abducted Ayushi and raped her again.

Ayushi and her mother came to Gauravi for counselling and legal help. We registered an FIR against Lehan under various sections of India Penal Code and POCSO Act, 2012. Supported by a team of lawyers at Gauravi, Ayushi received justice and Lehan was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment starting from 2018. She also received monetary compensation.