Lok Sabha Question No. 5550 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-04
Subject: Atrocities against Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Y S Avinash Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5550

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.04.2025

## ATROCITIES AGAINST WOMEN

## 5550.  SHRI Y S AVINASH REDDY:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  received  a  representation  from  the  Ministry regarding increase in the cases of atrocities on women during the past three years; and
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the action taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a) and (b):  'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India and the responsibility to maintain law and order, protection of  life  and  property  of  the  citizens  including  investigation  and  prosecution  of  crime against  women  rest  primarily  with  the  respective  State  Governments;  they  are competent to deal with such crimes.

The data about crimes against women as reported by The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) upto the year 2022 is available at its website https://ncrb.gov.in/en/crime-india. Increased reporting of crime may be attributable to the  increased  level  of  awareness  among  citizens  due  to  various  measures  taken by  government in the last few years including the operationalisation of helplines such as Women Helpline -181 and Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112), concept of Zero FIR and  e-FIR and provision of institutional support to the survivors.

For  safety  and  security  of  women  and  girls,  government  has  taken  several  steps. Some recent laws and policies that directly and indirectly cater to the safety of women are given below:

- i. The Government of India with an aim to modernize and improve the criminal justice system has enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik

Suraksha  Sanhita  (BNSS)  and  Bharatiya  Sakshya  Adhiniyam  (BSA)  which came into effect from 1st July, 2024. In BNS 2023, the offences against women and children earlier scattered in Indian Penal Code, 1860 have been brought together and consolidated under Chapter-V of BNS. The BNS has introduced new provisions to strengthen laws related to women and children, specifically, Section  111  related  to  'organized  crime',  Section  69  related  to  sexual intercourse  on  false  promise  of  marriage,  employment,  promotion  or  by suppressing the identity, Section 95 related to hiring, employing or engaging a child to commit an offence etc. In respect of the crimes related to buying a child for  the  purposes  of  prostitution  (Section  99),  gang  rape  (Section  70)  and exploitation  of  a  trafficked  person  (Section  144),  punishment  has  been increased.  Further,  in  respect  of  certain  severe  crimes  against  women  like buying child  for  the  purposes  of  prostitution  (section  99  of  BNS),  organised crime  (Section  111),  kidnapping  or  maiming  a  child  for  purpose  of  begging (Section 139), mandatory minimum punishments have been prescribed. Also, Sections 75 and 79 of BNS 2023 provide additional legal protections against harassment, covering actions like unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual  favours,  sexually  coloured  remarks  and  also  word,  gesture  or  act intended  to  insult  modesty  of  a  woman.  Such  a  woman  facing  sexual harassment  at  workplace  has  an  option  to  file  a  complaint  under  these provisions.

- ii. Additionally,  provisions  under  section  398  BNSS  which  introduce  Witness Protection Schemes, acknowledging the critical need to shield witnesses from threats  and  intimidation  and  Section  2(1)(d)  of  BSA  which  now  enables electronic  or  digital  record  on  emails,  documents  on  computers,  laptop  or smartphone,  messages  and  voice  mail  messages  stored  on  digital  devices under definition of documents can also be referred for protection of women from harassment at workplace.
- iii. Further, the Labour Codes, collectively include provisions to promote participation of women in workforce in a dignified manner and with adequate safety measures adopted by the employers. Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020 consolidates and amends laws regulating the safety, health, and working conditions of workers, with specific provisions to ensure the safety of women at the workplace.
- iv. The Ministry of Women and Child Development recently launched the SHe-Box portal  duly  encompassing  various  provisions  of  'the  Sexual  Harassment  of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013' (SH Act). This portal provides  a  publicly available centralised repository of information related to Internal Committees (ICs) and Local Committees (LCs) formed across the country, whether in government or private sector. It also provides  a  common platform to  file  complaints  and track  the  status  of  such complaints. The portal includes a feature where complaints registered on it will

be automatically forwarded to the IC/ LC of the workplaces concerned within the  Central  Ministries/  Departments,  States/  UTs  and  in  Private  sector.  The portal  provides  for  designating  a  nodal  officer  for  every  workplace  who  is required to ensure updation of data/ information on a regular basis for real time monitoring of complaints.

- v. Under Nirbhaya Fund, Government has taken several measures to improve safety of women:
- a.  One Stop Centre (OSC) component of Mission Shakti Umbrella Scheme, which is fully funded by the central government is implemented across the country since 1st April, 2015. It provides integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence and those in distress, both in private and public spaces. It also provides an integrated range of services including medical aid, legal aid and advice, temporary shelter, police assistance, psycho-social counselling to needy women. 818 OSCs are operational across the country and over 10.80 lakh women have been assisted upto 31st January, 2025.
- b.  To ensure that the Police Stations are more women friendly and approachable, as they would be the first and single point of contact for any woman walking into a police station, 14,658 Women Help Desks (WHDs) have been set up, of which 13,743 are headed by women police officers.
- c.  To  provide  help  and  support  to  needy  women  and  women  in  distress, Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112) has been established in all 36 States and UTs for various emergencies, with computer aided dispatch of field/ police resources. Since its launch, over 43 crore calls have been handled so far. In addition to ERSS, a fully functional dedicated Women helpline (WHL181) is operational in 35 States/ UTs except West Bengal. The WHL has also been integrated with ERSS. So far, Women Helplines have handled over 2.10 crore calls and assisted over 84.43 lakh women.
- d.  To  ensure  safety  of  public  places  where  women  work  and  live,  various components  under  Safe  City  Projects  have  been  implemented  in  8  Cities (namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai). To ensure safe transportation for women, rail and road transport projects like Integrated Emergency Response Management System (IERMS), Video Surveillance System at Konkan Railway, Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Facial Recognition System (FRS) integrated with Video surveillance Systems, including Command-and-Control Centre at 7 major railway stations and  tabs  for  safety  of  women  passengers  on  board  the  train  by  Ministry  of Railways,  and  projects  like  Vehicle  Tracking  Platform  with  command  and control centre across States/ UTs, and some State specific projects like Uttar Pradesh  Road  transport  Corporation  (UPSRTC),  Bengaluru  Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), Telangana State Road Transport Corporation

(TSRTC),  etc.  by  Ministry  of  Road  Transport  and  Highways,  have  been implemented.

- vi. Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) has also undertaken several  initiatives,  which,  inter-alia  include  training  and  skill  development programs for Investigation Officers, Prosecution Officers and Medical Officers. BPR&D has also prepared Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for 'Women Help Desk at Police Stations' to ensure their smooth functioning. Emphasis has been laid upon appropriate behavioural and attitudinal skills of the police in course of prevention and detection of crime against women and children and interaction with victims of crime. Webinars on women safety with sensitivity, gender  sensitization  of  police  personnel  etc.  have  also  been  organized  by BPR&D.
- vii. Recognizing  the  need  for  psycho-social  counselling  to  women  affected  by violence and those in distress, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has  engaged  the  services  of  National  Institute  of  Mental  Health  and  Neuro Sciences  (NIMHANS)  for  providing  basic  and  advanced  training  under  the project named 'Stree Manoraksha' to the staff of One Stop Centres (OSCs) across the country on handling psycho-social and mental health care needs of women facing violence and distress.
- viii. Further, the Ministry of Women and Child Development also administers subscheme 'Samarthya' under Mission Shakti in which the component of Shakti Sadan is for relief and rehabilitation of women in difficult circumstances.
- ix. The Government, through institutions like the National Commission for Women (NCW) and its counterparts in States has been spreading awareness through seminars, workshops, audio- visual, print and electronic media etc. to sensitize the  people  about  the  safety  and  security  of  women  and  also  about  various provisions of the legislation and policies etc. In addition, Ministry of Women and Child  Development  and  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  have  issued  advisories  to States/ UTs from time to time on various issues pertaining to safety and security of women. In respect of the registered complaints, NCW takes up the matter with stakeholders especially the Police Authorities to ensure that the complaints are redressed and brought to logical conclusion.
- x. The Ministry has launched the 'Mission Shakti Portal' with all functional features on  January  22,  2025.  This  portal  aims  to  enhance  accessibility  of  various government  services  for  women,  establish  quality  mechanisms  for  rescue, protection, and rehabilitation, and build the capacity of functionaries and duty holders under various schemes and legislations.

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