CSR An Institution for Women of India

In its endeavor to mainstream gender in all aspect of developmental activities, GTI conducts long term training programmes/projects in parallel with individual capacity building trainings, and the continuous development of new training materials. Currently, GTI is engaged in the following activities:

Promotion of Women�s Rights Through Networking, Lobbying, Advocacy And Capacity Building. Supported by ICCO

This is a major long term project to further �women�s rights as human rights�. The project is supported by the InterChurch Organisation for Development Co-operation (ICCO). www.icco.nl

The project aims to establish a network of grass root level community organizations to deal with any form of violence and discrimination against women. The Development Division at CSR along with GTI has started implementing this project in Delhi through our Crisis Intervention Centres (CICs) in six localities, and in Varanasi at out Gender Resource Centre (GRC). GTI�s activities in this project include devising and delivering trainings through these centres to community members. These trainings are on various issues, such as those relevant to helping women victims, for example: effective counseling, the procedure for registration of complaints, and case filing. Training sessions also address broader areas such as communication skills, women�s rights, advocacy and networking skills. Please see the Development section for more information.

Capacity Building of Service Providers, Advocacy and Effective Lobbying for Effective Implementation of Protection of Women DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT,2005

The project aims at Enhancing capacity of the service providers/stakeholders for effective implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005) in India and South Asia. The project is supported by Interchurch Organization for Development Co-operation -ICCO)

A total of 1,55,553 incidents of crime against women (both under IPC and SLL) were reported in India during 2005 as compared to 1,54,333 during 2004 recording marginal increase of 0.8% during 2005 and increased by 8.2 per cent over 2001. The reported cases of domestic violence in India represent only the tip of the iceberg which means that the vast majority are socially and institutionally invisible. Centre for Social Research conducted an action research to assess the use/misuse of Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and found that the provision was barely being used to the optimum. Despite probable incidence of violence being very high, (approximately 5 crore cases) reported cases are merely 0.1% (50,000 cases). Another significant finding that emerges from the secondary records is that while the total incidence of crime is declining across the country, crime against women (CAW) has been steadily increasing in India. There has been a 67 percent decadal growth rate in CAW between 1993 and 2003. Cruelty by husband and relatives (categorised as crime under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code) has a major share in CAW. Though cruelty by husbands and relatives constitutes a major share of the total CAW (36.1%), the conviction rate in this category is among the lowest (18.1%). Section 498A IPC is a criminal law, proving the facts ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ most often provide a safe escape for the perpetrator. Women’s movement struggled to get a civil law, so that victims of domestic violence will get some respite.

With the bill on Domestic Violence having become an Act (Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005), Indian women’s movement can rejoice on having achieved a milestone long overdue.However, after achieving the first milestone, the journey towards domestic violence-free life for women has just begun. We have seen that countries have strong laws but if not implemented properly fail to serve the very purpose for which they were drafted. The need today is to make effective utilization of this piece of legislation to protect women and to provide them some relief from being revictimized.

Project Objectives:

To build the capacity of the Service Providers (Duty Bearers).
To build knowledge and do grassroots advocacy on the new law.
To lobby with national government for effective implementation of the DV Act.
To share knowledge and best practices with the South Asia Countries.