Victims of domestic violence approaching the Snehitha gender help desk of the Kudumbashree District Mission will soon receive aid from a legal clinic started in association with the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) if all goes to plan.
At a convergence meeting of the Snehitha help desk at the Collectorate here, Additional District Collector V. Vinod said making arrangements for the clinic to provide legal aid once in two weeks would be very beneficial.
Snehitha counsellor Anitha Kumari S. said the domestic violence cases coming to Snehitha were of varied nature. While some cases could be resolved with mediation and a few counselling sessions, there were others in which legal help had to be sought.
These included cases pertaining to domestic violence under the influence of liquor or drugs or those involving property.
Calling Bell project
It was decided to seek police aid for the Snehitha Calling Bell project that caters to senior citizens living alone.
Government care homes could not accommodate any more as many people, who had families, had been abandoned there.
It was proposed to ensure that families took up the maintenance of such people so that those who were destitute could be put up in such homes.
It was also proposed that Snehitha help desks be set up at police stations that seek the facility to provide counselling in cases of extreme stress or requiring immediate intervention.
Gender sensitisation classes were also proposed for all government staff. It was decided to start the initiative with a class for the Collectorate staff.
Ms. Anitha Kumari cited the example of Snehitha’s gender sensitisation classes for anganwadi workers.
