January 12, 2025 05:11 am (IST)
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Rape and abuse victims need more respect: Harsh Vardhan
Bhopal, June 16 (IBNS): In the wake of the recent increase in crimes against women, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said victims of rape and sexual abuse need more respect than sympathy.
"A woman who has been raped or subjected to sexual abuse needs more respect than sympathy. It is society’s responsibility that she is given justice and rehabilitation so that she can overcome her humiliation and move on,” Harsh Vardhan said during his visit to Bhopal.
The psychological trauma of a battered woman is greater than the physical pain she undergoes in the aftermath of her being subjected to atrocities. So, it is absolutely unconditional that all those involved in advancing her medico-legal support are sensitised, the Health Minister stated.
He stressed this at a function of NGO representatives, health workers, officials and other professionals organized at a city hotel to mark the launch of a “One Stop Crisis Centre” (OSCC) under the aegis of the Jai Prakash Hospital, Bhopal to provide support, care, treatment, security and legal advice to women who have been subjected to atrocities.
It is the country’s first single window service set up as part of the Madhya Pradesh government’s “Gauravi” Mahila Samman Evang Sangrakshan Abhiyaan.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Bollywood actor Aamir Khan were present on the occasion, along with the Minister for Health, MP, Narottam Mishra, Minister for Women and Child Development Maya Singh, and the Minister of State, Health Sharad Jain.
All those present agreed that the setting up of the OSCC would bring about a cultural shift to engender a culture of action replacing the culture of silence and apathy which prevails today.
The Health Minister said, “Under the Indian system a battered woman’s greatest agony often begins in the police station or in the hospital because of callousness and insensitivity on the part of those responsible for her quest for justice and rehabilitation. I am sure that establishing more OSCC facilities will go a long way to ending this system.”
The Madhya Pradesh government has been partnered in this endeavour by two reputed non-government organisations in the area of training doctors, counsellors and other personnel at the OSCC. More such centres are being planned across the state in the near future.
“I have personally interacted with the families of rape victims and seen their suffering at the hands of an insensitive system. During the first few hours following a rape, the protocol for giving medico legal assistance is callously broken. As most of the victims are from poor backgrounds, they and their families are often not in a position to demand that the rules are adhered to. Most often they are not even aware of the protocol established under the law,” the Minister said.
The Health Minister announced that he has decided to issue an advisory to all central hospitals and to the state governments to set up OSCC-like institutions under their roofs. These would enforce a tight protocol for the benefit of victims, he informed.
“I am much impressed by this collaborative effort in Bhopal between a government and NGO. I assure you that this will become a model for the rest of the country and especially the national capital where the attitude of those authorised to deal with victims of abuse leaves much to be desired,” Harsh Vardhan said.
He announced that hospital authorities will be given special training on how to deal with the physical and psychological needs of a victim of abuse.
While specific rules and protocols exist there is no drive to enforce them, he said. Resultantly, even the rule banning two-finger tests on rape victims is ignored, he stated.
He further added that punitive clauses will be introduced to ensure that hospital staff disobeying the protocol is suspended.
Therefore, the Health Ministry’s new regulations will lead to screening off the rape or abuse victim from public gaze while undergoing medico-legal evidence, he said.
If the need is felt to admit her in hospital, then a cabin will be put to her disposal. Her family members will also be protected from insensitive probing, Vardhan said.
Additionally, the Health Minister said that his Ministry will put at the disposal of all Hospital Superintendants (and in their absence the Deputy Superintendants) a special fund to meet all the medico-legal needs of victims.
This will also cover the stay and costs of travel of the family members of the unfortunate victim. No payment will be extracted from them under whatever head, he stated.
The Minister also said that on his return to New Delhi he would write to the Ministers of Women and Child Development, Home Affairs, Law and Justice and Social Justice and Empowerment. “My dream is to have an ideal system wherein women who have been abused and raped are quickly reintegrated into the system. I thank the Madhya Pradesh government for providing me the light.”
Earlier in the day, Harsh Vardhan visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal, which is one of the six new AIIMS established recently.
He was accompanied by the Secretary, Ministry of Health, Lov Verma. He was shown around the campus by the Director of AIIMS Bhopal, Dr Sandeep Kumar and got a personal feel of the conditions there.
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