A small room with a couple of tables and a few chairs, that’s about all that will suffice for a temporary “Sakhi: One Stop Centre (OSC)†within the premises of the Phase 6 Civil Hospital, Mohali which was on Saturday formally dedicated by Punjab Higher Education Minister Razia Sultana to women affected by violence in any form.
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The OSCs, being opened across the country under a 100% centrally funded scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, are aimed at providing round the clock integrated range of services, including medical, legal and psychological support and assistance, to women affected by violence, all under one roof. The OSCs will be integrated with women’s helpline and other existing helplines.
Photo By : Life In Chandigarh
The Mohali OSC, later to be moved to a spacious premises, will have among others a centre administrator – the first point of contact for an affected woman, a case worker, who will support and assist the centre administrator in taking cases of violence against women to their logical conclusion, and a police facilitation officer, who will help the aggrieved women in initiating appropriate police proceedings against the perpetrators.
There will also be a paralegal personnel or lawyer, who will assist in end to end legal proceedings, a paramedic, who will provide first aid and immediate life-saving treatment and see the affected woman though hospital procedures, and a psychological counsellor.
The violence affected women, along with their children (girls of all ages & boys up to 8 years of age), will be provided temporary shelter at the OSC and arrangements will be made for their long term shelter in ‘swadhar greh’ or short stay homes managed or affiliated with the government or an NGO.
The OSC will also have the facility of teleconferencing by which, with the permission of concerned police and judicial authorities, aggrieved women can record their statement to the police or depose before the courts from the OSC itself.
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The OSC scheme is intended to support women affected by violence, in private and public spaces, within the family, community and at workplaces. Women facing physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and economic abuse, irrespective of age are covered under the scheme.
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