A BLOCK LEVEL EVENT

“JUSTICE FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS”

Domestic Violence is a grave issue that has persisted in the society for a very long time and to challenge its existence a Block level workshop was organized by Mahila Jagran Kendra in association with Care India to demand “justice for domestic violence survivors” and to eradicate it from the society. Its chief objectives were:

·        To understand how deep domestic violence is rooted in the society

·        To understand what various sections of people think about it

·        To make women aware about their rights, various schemes, policies and laws.

·        It also aimed to motivate government officials in implementing DV Act at grass root level and pressurize govt. to provide essential services to women.

·        An essential part of the program is to involve the communities and the doctors especially and impart information to them about the laws related to DV Act, 2005.

Various sessions on following topics were conducted throughout the day:

Ø  Gender

Ø  Domestic Violence; meaning and forms and impact

Ø  Domestic Violence Act

Ø  Strategies to cope up with DV

The meetings with the PRI members, health groups, doctors, police officials and community members that were conducted by Ms. Archana under the supervision of Ms. Babita in the 2 Panchayat blocks of Samastipur namely Gadhsisai and Vidyapatinagar led to a workshop on Domestic Violence Act, 2005. I

t was organized on the 8^th of May in Paryatan Kendra, Vidyapatinagar in Samastipur. 

A total of 80 guests were expected but the turnout was more than that. Around 145 people came.

Conclusion

As a conclusion of this event, it was seen that this was just a small step towards the goal of eradicating this social evil. The ultimate aim of the workshop could be achieved only when each and every member of the society was sensitized on this issue and was aware of the laws associated with it. People present in the workshop had a very minimal knowledge about it. The women of the Anganwadi and the Asha had some knowledge on the issue. The police officers who are the public servants were also not very well aware of the legal aspect of it or were ignorant about it. In general people had a low IQ on this issue but they were willing to actively participate in eradicating this social evil.

Recommendation

Hence, to eradicate this social evil which exists in the mindset of the people, it would  be advisable to organize such events of spreading awareness more often, especially at the local level, in the rural areas so that it sets in the minds of the people that these matters disrupt our society and prevents development of any kind and help in flushing it out of the society.