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“One Stop Crisis Centres” for the Redress of Sexual Offenses in India: Addressing Gaps between Policy, Execution, and Implementation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2023

Sonu Agarwal  and
Deepankar Sharma Open the ORCID record for Deepankar Sharma [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

Women in India have perpetually been the victims of sexual offenses. The data of the National Crime Records Bureau suggests that such offenses against women are prevalent in almost every part of the country. The year 2013 marked major reforms to the legal and judicial structure for addressing these sexual offenses against female victims. It was felt that special support agencies should be established under one roof to administer every kind of assistance these victims require. Victims should not be mandated to run from pillar to post seeking justice from various agencies and institutions; rather, assistance should be made available to them at one location. To aid and assist the victims of sexual offenses, the Justice Usha Mehra Commission of Inquiry1 was constituted by India's central government just after the horrific gang rape of a medical student in Delhi in 2012. The Commission recommended the establishment of One Stop Crisis Centres (OSCCs) to help victims of sexual offenses with their legal battles against their offenders. But a primary question has loomed about the effectiveness of such Centres on the ground level, given the lack of resources in our criminal justice enforcement system and a strained policing mechanism.

This article deliberates on the fundamental contours of roles and responsibilities to be performed by the OSCCs and deep dives into the investigation of factors presumably responsible for their less-than-desirable output, if any.

Keywords

Sexual offensescriminal justiceenforcementwomenvictim support services
Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 50 , Issue 3 , Winter 2022 , pp. 113 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by International Association of Law Libraries

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Footnotes

*

Associate Professor of Law, Manipal University Jaipur (India). E-mail: sonuagarwal0602@gmail.com; sonu.agarwal@jaipur.manipal.edu

**

Assistant Professor of Law (Senior Scale), Manipal University Jaipur (India). E-mail: deepankar707@gmail.com; deepankar.sharma@jaipur.manipal.edu

References

1 See “Report of Justice Usha Mehra (Retd.)” (February 22, 2013), https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/UshaMehraReport_170913.pdf.

2 Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 (Act No. 13 of 2013, dated February 3, 2013).

3 “One Stop Centre Scheme: Implementation Guidelines,” Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India (December 2017), https://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/OSC_G.pdf.

4 Agencies, “Nirbhaya Case Update: Timeline of Events,” Times of India (December 18, 2019), https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/nirbhaya-case-update-timeline-of-events/articleshow/72867931.cms.

5 For more on the Nirbhaya Fund, see “Nirbhaya Fund: Where Did Millions Set Aside after Delhi Gang Rape Go?” BBC News (February 9, 2021), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54434160.

6 See One Stop Centre Scheme, Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India, accessed August 30, 2022, https://wcd.nic.in/schemes/one-stop-centre-scheme-1.

7 See “One Stop Centre Scheme: Implementation Guidelines,” Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India (December 2017), https://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/OSC_G.pdf.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid.

10 ERS/Patient Transport Service, National Health Mission, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, accessed September 23, 2022, https://nhm.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1&level=2&sublinkid=1217&lid=189.

11 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Date of Enactment, April 1, 1974).

12 “One Stop Centre,” Ministry of Women & Child Development, Press Release (February 11, 2022), https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1797709. For a collection of statistics and other documents related to the One Stop Centres, see One Stop Centre Scheme, supra note 6.

13 Jayshree Bajoria, “One Stop Centres for Rape Survivors Are Now Solving Marital Disputes,” Human Rights Watch (November 10, 2017), www.hrw.org/news/2017/11/10/one-stop-centres-rape-survivors-india-are-now-resolving-marital-disputes.

14 Gunjeet Sra, “Where is the Safer Environment for Women the Government Promised in 2012?” The Swaddle (December 12, 2019), https://theswaddle.com/where-is-the-safer-environment-for-women-the-government-promised-in-2012/.