ITANAGAR, Sep 6: A national webinar on legal awareness, themed ‘Stop violence against women’, was jointly organised by the Arunachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (APLSA) on Sunday.
In his inaugural address, Arunachal University of Studies, Namsai Vice Chancellor, Prof OP Sharma explained the types of violence women are facing today and hoped that the participants will be enlightened from the webinar.
Justice Rumi Kumari Phukan of the Gauhati High Court, who is also APLSA executive chairperson said, “Violence against women is
one of the most serious women rights violations, which is cause and consequence of gender biasness and discrimination.”
She also informed about the laws which are legislated to safeguard the interest of women like Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, POCSO Act and Dowry Provision Act, besides the safety measurements and provisions on how to stop violence against women, role of legal services authority by organising legal awareness and providing legal aid to the victims.
She emphasized that gender equality can only be achieved if all the stakeholders join hands.
National Commission for Women, GoI Member, Soso Shaiza informed how women can lodge complaints at the commission besides handling and processing of the complaints.
Civil Judge (Sr Div) joint member secretary, Haryana State Legal Services Authority, Dr Sukhda Pritam spoke on how legal services authority provides assistance to victims of violence by providing legal aid and compensation to victims through victim compensation schemes and mediations, while Additional District & Sessions Judge member secretary, Delhi State Legal Services Authority, Kanwal Jeet Arora informed that all women are entitled to free legal aid under section 12 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987.
Nagaland Inspector General of Police, Sonia Singh stated that there is need of effective communication between the police and public for which the police personnel are trained on how to behave with the victims.
DG (Doordarshan), GoI, Mayank Aggarwal said that the media can play a major role by changing people’s attitude and thought towards women. He also spoke on laws related to media like the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 and the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 etc.
JC Bose University of Science & Technology Vice Chancellor Prof Dinesh Kumar and KR Mangalam University Vice Chancellor Prof Adiya Malik also spoke.
The APLSA jointly held the programme along with Delhi and Haryana State Legal Services Authority, Bhagidari Jan Sahyog Samiti, NSS Arunachal University of Studies and NSS JC Bose University of Science & Technology YMCA in collaboration with NSS KR Mangalam University, Ideal Institute of Management & Technology, Satyawati College (Evening) University of Delhi, MR Bharti College of Education, NSS Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University.
The webinar was attended among others by APSLSA member secretary Jaweplu Chai along with large number of judicial officers, legal aid counsels, para legal volunteers across the state.
