By Dr Girish Kulkarni | Founder
Thank you so much for all of your support of our projects in Maharashtra, India. You are helping us to deliver a diverse portfolio of projects and campaigns to end the exploitation of women and children, often in partnership with the stakeholder that can address the issues nationally. This year, Valentine’s Day weekend saw us deliver India’s first ever state-level workshop on stalking, delivered in partnership with India’s National Commission for Women
Although stalking is a criminal offence under Section 78 of India’s Bharatiya Nyanya Sanhita (BNS) Act, it is often overlooked and reported under more generic crimes against women. This is reflected in India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data which shows that only 10,495 stalking cases were registered in the country, with Maharashtra having the second highest number of cases state-wise per capita but with the highest number of cases at 2,689.
The workshop followed visits by our Snehalaya UK Trustee, Caroline, who has over 20 years of experience working to support survivors of gender-based violence with a specialisation in stalking, which has seen her directly support 100s of victims through the UK courts. Together, we aimed to shine a light on stalking as a criminal offence and to share best practice with stakeholders who can bring perpetrators to justice and offer support to victims.
Inaugurated by the Chair of the National Commission for Women, the two-day workshop saw national and international professionals and experts in criminal law, police, NGOs, psychologists and the media discussing ways forward. Five panel discussions over the two days addressed range of topics creating a roadmap to improve the situation for those being stalked at national level. Discussions included:
The workshop clarified what stalking is, with real-life examples and the sharing of important tools to identify stalking, which is separate to harassment, and ways to collect evidence that will help secure convictions. We also shared our Snehadhar 24/7 national helpline (9011363600) for those experiencing stalking to access support, including:
The outcomes which we were aiming for through the workshop were:
• Raise the profile of stalking - educate stakeholders and improve recognition and enforce the legal processes
• Create a roadmap and support systems to tackle stalking
• Publish a paper on the conference with a knowledge partner
• Launch Snehadhar helpline as the national helpline for stalking support
• Presenting the conclusions of this workshop to the relevant departments/ministry of the Central Government.
Since the workshop we have already conducted further training with our local police to highlight stalking and with the National Commission for Women, we will continue to mark Valentine's Day as Anti-Stalking Day in India.
We hope you realise how valuable your support is in our continued awareness raising of crimes such as this that are often ignored by authorities and that together we are ensuing women can live safer lives with perpetrators experiencing the full force of the laws in place.
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