Chennai: “We don't have a national domestic violence hotline in India. Since the International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC) has had a functional hotline in Tamil Nadu, we are scaling up with the help of Verizon India,” said Dr Prasanna Gettu, managing trustee, PCVC
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Prasanna Gettu said that they seek to work in partnership with police and medical facilities.
“A network has to be built among all affected parties because domestic violence, especially in case of injuries, is a medico-legal issue," she said. Statistics say 1 in 3 women has faced some form of domestic violence, be it mental or physical, “Therefore one hotline, whether it is ours, or the government's 181 is not the one-stop solution. We need to all work in coordination,” she adds.
One-stop centres are being established in all districts by the ministry of women and child development (MWCD). These, like their name suggests, would be the one-stop for women affected by violence. “We at PCVC are trying to get in touch with these centres and see how we can work together,” Prasanna says.
Outlining the process from when the hotline receives a call, to when action is taken Prasanna says the hotline does not stop with answering a distress call.
“Our aim isn't just picking up the call. Ninetynine per cent of our calls is high-risk. A woman would only call if her friends or family are unable to help. So, we do everything in our power to help her out,” says Prasanna. “Several women call us after they have run away from home, or are about to take such an extreme step. We can’t just counsel them then, we have an immediate response team to fetch them from wherever they are, to our office in Chennai,”she adds.
At the Chennai office, there is a health and wellness centre and a counselling centre where necessary care will be provided.
“We are also trying to create a network of doctors as sometimes hospitals don’t take such cases as the police will involve,” Prasanna says, Survivors of family violence can call at (044-43111143/1800 102 7282) during an emergency.
