Monday 21 December 2015

Know your Rights

You are important and so is your security so god forbid if you or anyone you care for is subjected to an act of sexual violence then it is of utmost importance to know what you should do in such a situation.

1.You Have a right to protect yourself. Sexual violence includes not just physical harm but other forms of harm as well. Ever since the law changed in 2013 a lot more is covered under this it. It covers a broad range  of offenses and not just sexual harassment. Even voyeurism and stalking is covered by this law. In quite a lot of cases the offenders are known to the victim and whenever you find a person approaching you inappropriately you can raise an alarm and register a protest. As being silent only encourages the offender to get bolder and make things more difficult for you as a person. If you feel that you are in distress or in need of help then either contact the police or raise an alarm. There are a number of apps so that can help you get help by connecting you with family or a trusted person. Keep the important numbers on speed dial so that you can immediately connect and get help

2. You Deserve to Get Justice.
This has two parts first is to avoid being the victim ,get help before such a crime happens and the very important part is to inform the police and the authorities. In a lot of cases the girl who is the victim does not know what to do. The first thing to be done is to register an FIR with the police.
The law states that the girl can file an FIR from any police station and need not be limited to going to the police station that is nearest to the scene of the crime .
One can register the complaint against sexual violence over phone or email also but to complete the FIR registration one must visit a police station.
An FIR can be filed by a friend, Witness or a family member of the victim. As long as they have the full consent of the survivor and the survivor must be willing to be part of the investigation later.
If the survivor is physically challenged then the police must visit the victim to register the FIR.As per the law the police cannot refuse to file the complaint and if a officer refuses then he or she can be punished. In the case of refusal to file a complaint, higher officers should be approached to file the complaint

3. Not standing for Justice gives the offenders the feeling that they s can get away with anything .
It only makes them stronger and gives them the encouragement to become repeat offenders.
Your silence is a punishment you should not give yourself as unless the offender is punished for his crime neither you nor your loved ones would be safe in our society. Raising your voice against such a crime and registering a complaint is the first step towards getting justice.



“I’m writing this blog post to support Amnesty International’s #KnowYourRights campaign at BlogAdda. You can also contribute to the cause by donating or spreading the word.”

No comments:

Post a Comment