Majority of sexual harassment victims in Visakhapatnam are minors

Many cases do not reach the authorities as they are compromised within the family, say officials.
Image for representational purpose only.
Image for representational purpose only.

VISAKHAPATNAM: The sexual harassment of minors in the city appears to have become a cause of concern, if the data available with the one-stop crisis centre (Sakhi) are any indication.

The centre set up in January last year to cater to the needs of the victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence and human trafficking has received 26 cases thus far. And the officials say that majority of the victims are minors.

“Most of the cases registered are the children below 17 years of age, while nine victims are women below 30 years of age. When it comes to children, they are either raped or abused by auto drivers or by the persons known to them,” says BD Jyothi Latha, the centre’s social counsellor.

Citing a recent incident, she says that an Intermediate girl was raped by an auto driver whom she knew before. The driver forced him on after taking her to an isolated place.

The counsellor says that many of such cases go unreported as the victims disclose the harassment to none, not even to their family members and suffer mental trauma.

“In majority of the cases, the girls don’t reveal such incidents due to fear. Such cases come to light only after the parents notice some behavioural changes in their wards and approach police for justice,” says Jyothi Latha.  

According to her, many harassment cases do not reach the authorities as they are compromised within the family for many reasons.“We have been organising awareness campaigns and counselling sessions in schools and colleges,” says Jyothi Latha.

Centre needs more facilities

The officials of the one-stop-crisis centre running from the KGH premises at present say that inadequate facilities are coming in the way of their effective functioning. The centre set up by the Women and Child Welfare Department provides counselling, medical aid, legal guidance and police assistance to the women in distress. Of the 19 sanctioned staffers, 15 were recruited recently. The domestic violence wing of the centre is being run by four staffers from a small room in the family planning ward in KGH. Apart from them, there is a legal counsellor, a social counsellor and two home guards who will be working under a central administrator round the clock. “As we have no exclusive vehicle for the centre, we are using the 108 ambulance services in emergency. We have requested for a special vehicle,” says K Chinmayi Devi, project director of Women and Child Welfare Department. Further, the department has got an approval for the centre to run from Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences on temporary basis, “We will be shifting there soon. The VIMS will allot us a site for the centre,” she adds.

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