A file image of a Sakhi – One Stop Centre, in Udupi.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
“Around a few weeks ago, we got a case where a woman had an extra marital affair with another married man due to various factors. She was also a victim of domestic abuse in her marriage. She had two children who were in SSLC and PUC. This has led to a lot of issues among both families. After they came here, we provided joint counselling services for both families, sorted out their problems and now both families are functioning well,” shared an administrator of a One Stop Centre/Sakhi Centre from South Karnataka.
These centres, set up by the Central government under the One Stop Centre Scheme, have assisted 17,944 women in the State who were in distress or were victims of abuse between 2021–22 and 2023–24, according to the data provided by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development. There are 39 such centres in the State spread across all the districts to provide legal, medical or social aid to the victims.
These centres get anywhere between 10-15 cases to 25-30 cases a month, according to a source in the State’s Department of Women and Child Development. Most of these cases are of women who need medical or legal help due to domestic abuse, victims of POCSO cases and those who need counselling and rehabilitation.
More centres needed
However, activists feel that while the reporting of these cases has increased, the resources still remain inadequate.
“These days the crimes against women have taken an unimaginable turn and the situation has gotten so ugly. So just 39 centres for a State as vast as ours are definitely not enough,” said K.S. Vimala, from the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA). Karnataka, along with Bihar has the fifth highest number of these centres in the country. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number (79 centres) followed by Madhya Pradesh (57), Maharashtra (55) and Tamil Nadu (48).
Ms. Vimala also said that the effect of these centres has not been felt in society so far. “These are supposed to be one stop centres with legal counsellors and police in the loop. If that is the case, then why have more cases not gone to court and why has not there been more convictions and why are police officials still not sensitised about crimes against women? All these points show that there is an inadequacy in the functioning of these centres.” She added, “These centres and their teams should change the mindsets of the society. Further, they should also be established in every police station.”
Published – April 13, 2025 05:08 pm IST
