A large number of women have been enlightened over the provisions of Domestic Violence Act and other rights they enjoy under the existing laws during the two-day women legal awareness campaign organised by Uttarakhand Women Commission which concluded at Badripur on Wednesday. A State women commission member Rekha Bahuguna said that the women should be fully aware of the provisions enshrined in the laws and they should make full use of them to assert themselves against the social evils.
During the programme, the state women commission member secretary Ramindri Mandrawal educated the women about their rights and appealed to them to come forward to register complaints whenever any crime is perpetrated on them at home or outside. She stressed on the women educating their children too about their rights under the laws to enable them to fight any wrong done to them. “In case of emergency, the women can report on toll free numbers 100 and 181 following which the officers would spring into action. They can also approach local police and the women commission to register their complaints,” she said.
Assuring the women who gathered that the commission is always on its toes to redress their grievances, she said that all kinds of assistance, including legal, are being given to the women who come to the commission to have their grievances redressed.
She further said that apart from creating awareness among the women and children about the domestic violence act, short –term curses on self- defence and self- employment are being organised from time to time at the block and the district levels in the state.
“However, the most important point is that the women would have to empower themselves and be ready to fight the social evils, including domestic violence, female foeticides, dowry torture, besides physical and mental abuses of all kinds, bedevilling the society. The government employees and officers should also be sensitised about the provisions of the important act,” she added.
D R Singh, legal officer, state women commission, dwelt on the female child’s right in the inheritance of her father’s properties while the state child development officer Kshama Bahuguna talked about the nuances of the domestic violence act and a former women commission member Krishana Khatri talked about female foeticides and its prevention.