Campaign against
Sexual Abuse of Children and
Youth
ICYO-Youth
Information
ICYO
to End CSEC
(To
raise the voice against Sexual Abuse, Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth
and Human Trafficking for sexual purpose)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Young
women are most victim of rape
57.7
percentage of rape victims in the age-group 18-30
years
-----------------
Parliamentary
Consultative Committee of Ministry of Women & Child Development Discusses
Rape Victims Rehabilitation Scheme
The Consultative Committee of the Parliament attached to the Ministry of
Women and Child Development held its meeting in
New Delhi today under the Chairmanship of Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister of
State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Women, and Child Development.
Smt. Krishna Tirath in her welcome address said that Rape is one
of the most violent forms of crimes against women, which not only impacts her
bodily integrity but in the long-run, impairs her capacity to develop meaningful
personal and social relationships, and affects her life and livelihood. The
victim of rape suffers mental and psychological trauma, which must be addressed
so that she is able to lead a dignified and meaningful life. She further
informed the members that the National Crime Records Bureau data shows that the
incidence of rape in the country is increasing. A total of 21,467 cases
of rape were reported in 2008 alone, which constituted an increase of 3.5% over
the previous year. According to the provisional data of 2009, a total of 21,397 cases
had already been reported during the year. An analysis of the data reported in
2008 shows that Madhya
Pradesh reported the highest number of cases (2,937) accounting for 13.7% of
total such cases reported in the country. West Bengal and Uttar
Pradesh reported 2263 and 1871 cases, respectively; followed by Maharashtra (1558),
Assam (1438), Rajasthan (1355) and
Bihar (1302) cases. The lowest number of cases was
reported from Nagaland (19) and
Sikkim
(20).
Women
from all age-groups have been victims of rape although it is the women in the
age-group of 18-30 years,
who may be more visible in the public sphere, continue to be most vulnerable to
the crime of rape. In 2008,
therefore, the total percentage of rape victims in the age-group 18-30 years was
57.2%
(12,299); in 2007, their percentage was similarly high at 57.7%
(11,984). Another significant and worrisome aspect of the data is that
in
as many as 91% (19,542)
of the cases, the offenders were known to the victims. Out of these, neighbours were involved in 33.1% cases.
During this period, 309 cases of
incest rape were also reported.
Sections
375, 376 and 376A-D of the Indian Penal Code constitute the legal framework that
deals with the offence of rape and provides for its punishment. These criminal
law provisions provide for punishment of the accused and the penalties therein
are envisaged to act as a deterrent.
Although the
criminal law is not traditionally geared towards providing relief to victims,
keeping in view the injury that is often suffered by the victim of a crime,
Section 357 of the Cr.P.C. enables the courts to award compensation to victims of
various crimes, including to that of rape. Through the amendments in 2009, a new
Section 357A was introduced in the Cr.P.C. which casts
a responsibility on the State Governments to formulate a Scheme in coordination
with the Central Government, for compensation of victims of
crime.
A
Scheme for Rehabilitation of Rape Victims of the Ministry of Women & Child
Development is in the final stages. While it is essential to provide punishment to the
perpetrators of such heinous crimes, it is imperative that the victim is
restored to a position of dignity and self-confidence. It is this principle of
restorative justice that must form the basis of efforts to address the trauma
that the affected woman goes through and may entail not only financial
assistance but also various support services such as counseling, shelter,
medical and legal aid.
Recognizing
this, the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Delhi Domestic Working
Women’s Forum Vs. Union of India and others writ petition (CRL)
No.362/93 had directed the National Commission for Women to evolve a “scheme so
as to wipe out the tears of unfortunate victims of rape’’. The Supreme Court
observed that having regard to the Directive Principles contained in Article
38(1) of the Constitution, it was necessary to set up a Criminal Injuries
Compensation Board, as rape victims besides the mental anguish, frequently incur
substantial financial loss and in some cases are too traumatized to continue in
employment.
The National
Commission for Women held wide ranging consultations with various stakeholders
such as women’s organisations, NGOs, lawyers, select
District Magistrates, members of the judiciary and police. Finally, the draft
Scheme was discussed in detail at the ‘National Consultation on Access to
Justice, Relief and Rehabilitation of Rape Victims’ organised by the Ministry of Women & Child Development
on 7th March, 2010. In this background, a comprehensive Scheme titled
the ‘Financial Assistance
and Support Services to Victims of Rape: A Scheme for Restorative
Justice’ to provide financial assistance and various support services
to victims of rape has been formulated.
Salient
Features of the Scheme are:
The scheme
proposes to cover women and minor girls who are victims of rape. Legal heir(s)
is also entitled to financial assistance where death of the affected woman has
resulted as a consequence of rape.
(i)
Reliefs envisaged under the
Scheme:
Under the Scheme, an affected woman shall be entitled
to:
·
Interim financial assistance to the affected woman of
Rs 20,000/- to take care of her immediate
needs;
·
Support services such as shelter, counselling, medical aid, legal assistance, education and
vocational training depending upon her needs. Assistance of upto Rs 50,000/- can be provided
for these support services; and
·
Final financial assistance of Rs 1.30 lakhs to address her
long-term needs and giving her support towards restoring her
confidence
(ii)
Provision for enhancement in special cases:
In certain
special cases involving minor girls or mentally challenged/handicapped women who
may need specialised treatment and care or women who
become infected with STDs, HIV/AIDS or get pregnant or on any other ground, the
quantum of assistance may be enhanced up to Rs 3 lakhs by the State Board on a reference from and in
consultation with the District Board.
(iii)
Assistance to legal heir(s): In case of death of the affected
woman, her legal heirs including minor children shall be entitled to Rs 1 lakh as assistance in case
she was a non-earning member or Rs 2 lakhs in case she was an earning member of the family.
(iv)
Establishment of Authorities under the Scheme:
The Scheme
envisages the setting up of Criminal Injuries Relief and Rehabilitation Boards
at the district, State and national levels. While the National and State Boards
would be primarily responsible for coordinating and monitoring implementation of
the Scheme, the District Boards would decide the claims made under the Scheme
and provide financial assistance as well as order such other support services as
may be essential for the victim. The National and State Boards would have the
power to undertake suo moto inquiry into complaints and refer the case
to the relevant District Board. Representatives from various Government
departments, medical professionals and eminent civil society experts would
constitute the Boards.
(v)
Easy procedures devised: In order to ensure that women are
able to get the benefits under the Scheme with minimum constraints, harassment
and delays, the Scheme provides that:-
(a)
Application for assistance is to be filed in a simple
and easy to use proforma within 60
days
(b)
The police have an obligation to forward every FIR,
Medical Report & Preliminary Investigation Report within 72 hrs to the
District Board.
(c)
In case the above documents are not received from the
police, the Board may call for them from the concerned authorities, once an
application is filed, thereby ensuring that the victim does not have to
undertake the tedious task of approaching the relevant
authorities
(d)
The interim relief and support services are to be
provided within 15 days & not later than 3
weeks
(e)
The final assistance of Rs
1.30 lakhs is required to be provided within 1 month of her evidence in criminal trial
or 1 year of filing the FIR, where recording of evidence has been delayed for
reasons beyond her control
(vi)
Devolution of Funds: The funds would devolve as
grant-in-aid to the State Government, on the recommendation of the National
Board. The State Government will
further disburse the funds to the District Boards, which would be drawn by the
District Collector/District Magistrate who is the Chairperson of the
Board.
(vii)
Other provisions: There is a provision for rejection
of claims to guard against misuse of the Scheme. The Scheme also provides for
periodic monitoring and evaluation of its implementation by the Government.
The Scheme
has been included in the 11th Plan. It is proposed to launch the
proposed Scheme as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with 100% Central funding during
the 11th Plan period at an estimated expenditure of Rs 149 cr. for the year 2011-12 towards providing financial
assistance, meeting the expenses incurred for providing the support services and
for payment of sitting fee and TA/DA of non-official members of the Boards.
The proposed
Scheme was approved by EFC on 19th October, 2010, which recommended
the launch of the Scheme. The Finance Ministry has also concurred with the
proposal. The process of obtaining necessary approvals from the Planning
Commission for release of funds under the Scheme is being undertaken.
It is
proposed to evaluate the implementation of the Scheme before the 12th
Plan and to consider sharing of costs between the Centre and the States at that
stage.
Members from Lok Sabha Shri Eknath M. Galkwad, Smt. Jaishreeben Patel and Smt.
Jhansi Laxmi Botcha and Smt. Bimla Kashyap Sood from Rajya Sabha attended the meeting.
-------------------------
This
newsletter distributed by
Indian Committee of Youth Organizations
(ICYO)
194-A,
Arjun Nagar, Safdarjang
Enclave
New
Delhi 110029, India
Phone:
91 9811729093 / 91 11 26183978 Fax 91 11
26198423
Email: icyo...@gmail.com / ic...@icyo-india.org
Web: www.icyo.in
------------------------------------------
Indian Committee of Youth Organizations
(ICYO) is the network organization, committed for capacity building and
developing mutual cooperation and understanding amongs
youth organizations, youth groups.
ICYO functions as an umbrella organization
of youth organizations..
Affiliation:
Consultative
(Roster) Status with ECOSOC, United Nations;
Consultative Status with Commission on Sustainable
Development;
Full Member of World Assembly of Youth (WAY);
Full
Member of Asian Youth Council (AYC);
Member: CRIN,
ATSEC-DELHI,
Affiliate group of ECPAT International,
Thailand
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ICYO-Youth Information" group.
.
.
