NEW DELHI:Despite being the infamous ‘rape capital of India’, Delhi doesn’t seem to need the central government’s One-Stop Crisis Centres for violence-affected women.
Most state governments have put in the application proposal or have mentioned that they don’t need one as they are running centres of their own. However, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government is the only government that has not asked for such a centre.
There are, at present, 17 One-Stop Crisis Centres across the country, and 52 have been further sanctioned. The Ministry of Women and Child Development plans to set up 183 such centres by July next year and has received proposals from all the state governments.
Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal regarding the same, but the government has not shown any interest.
The Centre plans to set up these centres to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof for women affected by violence in private and public spaces. It will provide a range of services such as medical, legal and psychological support.
In the first phase, one centre will be established in each state and Union Territory and it will be integrated with 181 and other helplines.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 17,104 cases of violent crimes against women were reported during 2015 in Delhi as against 15,265 last year. These included 5,367 cases of molestation in 2015, 4,179 in 2014 and 3,345 in 2013. Rape cases have gone up to 2,199 in 2015 from 2,096 in the previous year.
Data showed that Delhi ranked second in stalking cases, from 541 in 2014 the number increased to 1,124 in 2015. According to NCRB, most victims of sexual assault were between 18 and 30 years. And in 90 per cent of the cases, the accused were known to the victims.