One-stop crisis centers for women - Fusion - WeRIndia

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the government is opening three one-stop crisis centers (OSCCs). They can be visited to address the physical and mental health needs of women affected by violence.

Six such centers have already been launched by the Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry as part of OSCS launched in 2015. The centers are in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Rajasthan and Chandigarh.

WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi said that the number of OSCCs will be increased a lot this year to improve the safety of women affected by violence. The ministry is launching three more OSCCs in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The Foundation stone for another will be laid in Nagaland. She added that this year, five to six new centers will be launched every month. The establishment of such facilities has been recommended by the Justice JS Verma Committee.

The OSCS scheme is launched to make sure that an OSCC is established in every state or Union Territory. These centers provide medical, psychological and legal aid for women affected by violence. 181 telephone helplines will be integrated with the centers. With the help of these helplines, women in need of any help could be referred to any center.

In order to help the building of these facilities, the WCD ministry also released funds to more than 30 states and UTs. These centers were originally proposed to be established at 660 locations thereby covering all districts in the country. However, after receiving feedback from the public and stakeholders, the government decided to build them in a phased manner.

Each of these centers act as a one-stop crisis solving center for women affected by violence. Women can get rescue and security services here and they will also be referred to the nearest hospitals if medical aid is needed. The centers also help the women lodge a complaint and provide them with psychological and legal aid.

Image Credit: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)

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