In the past few months, the Nirbhaya Shelter Home at Poojappura where victims of rape and sexual assault are rehabilitated has been in the news repeatedly over several instances of residents escaping from there. Naturally, questions are now being raised whether such shelter homes are fulfilling the purpose for which they were set up.
Out of the 40 residents there, all of whom are minor, many have been lodged there after eloping with a lover and the boy being charged with rape as the girl is still a minor. But at such centres, there is no distinction maintained between such residents and rape victims.
“These two sections of residents have a different mentality and emotional makeup. One group will be deeply traumatised while the other will be waiting to turn 18 to gain freedom. Though all are technically ‘victims,’ both require different kinds of approach, which is not happening. The major problem is that the caretakers are not equipped enough or sensitised to these issues to handle them effectively. They are also relatively young and lack in experience,” says a lawyer who has visited and studied the facility.
But P.E. Usha, State Project Director of the Mahila Samakhya Society, an NGO which runs the Nirbhaya home under the guidance of the Social Welfare Department, says that all of them are properly trained.
“The social workers and house managers are postgraduates in social sciences and having at least three years of experience. They are appointed as per government norms, but most of them are not staying on for long as the wages are low,” says Ms. Usha.
The Poojappura centre, housed in a building which was once used as a short-stay home for women, is facing a severe space crunch.
The centre has a maximum capacity for only around 10 people, but all 40 are cramped into the few rooms available.
“Since all of them are very young, we should ideally have a playground on the premises. But there is not even enough space to sleep. We have asked for permission to move into the home for the differently abled nearby, which is now lying vacant. A decision on this is still awaited,” says Ms. Usha.
Lack of family support
Why do residents try to escape frequently from the Nirbhaya Home? P.E. Usha, State Project Director of the Mahila Samakhya Society, says a majority of such cases are those in which the victim lacks support from the family while others involve those traumatised by the investigation process.
“Many of the residents here have been subjected to sexual harassment by their own family members or a close relative. The only thought of the family will be to somehow make the girl retract her statement to save the accused. The girl ends up not getting any support from them,” says Ms. Usha.
She says that even the frequent interactions with the police, as part of the investigation and identification of the accused, could be traumatic to such victims.
“In such cases, sometimes all of our efforts till then are reversed with just one identification parade and we have to start from scratch,” she says.
