HHS has been actively involved in advocating for a review of laws and legal provisions on a range of issues such as Sexual Harassment at the Work place, Acid attacks on women, Immoral Trafficking Protection Act (ITPA), Policy on HIV etc.
Implementation of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005) (PWDA)
Currently, one of our key Advocacy areas is on the new Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005) (PWDA), which came into being in Oct 2005. The law has new actors such as Protection officers as well as Service providers to help women facing domestic violence get quick remedies.. The implementation of this law asks for various institutional systems in place as well as trained personnel to be able to meaningfully deliver justice to the women facing domestic violence.
However the reality is that the implementation of this law is ridden with many problems such as lack of proper infrastructure, personnel, budgetary allocations etc. We are now focusing our work on advocating for proper implementation of this act in Karnataka.
State Services for women facing violence in Karnataka
HHS conducted a study on the State run services for women facing violence in Karnataka in the year 2008.The study enquired into quality and accessibility of State services offered at counseling services such as Santwana, Family counseling centers, residential services such as Short Stay homes, State Homes, Reception centers and Swadhar for women in crisis in 11districts of Karnataka.
We are presently involved in dialoguing with concerned departments, advocating for changes in these institutions based on the findings of our study.
Proposed Law on Sexual Harassment at Workplace:
HHS is also presently involved in following up of the proposed Law on Sexual Harassment at Workplace. The bill is pending in the parliament and many groups in the country working on this issue have raised certain concerns and gaps in the bill. In Bangalore, we have been involved in voicing our concerns with the proposed bill to the Govt.
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