‘STREE MANORAKSHA’– an initiative aimed at “Integrating Training and Supervision in Psychosocial and Mental Health Care for One Stop Centre (OSC) staffs to support Women Facing Violence” is a project started in The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, with support and funding from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. The project is headed by Dr. Prabha S. Chandra, Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Dean, NIMHANS. The co-principal investigators of the project are Dr. Veena Satyanarayana, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, and Dr. Elizabeth Kimneihat Vaiphei, Assistant Professor of Psychiatric Social Work. The project aims to provide training and supervision in psychosocial and mental health care for staff and counsellors of all One Stop Centres (OSCs) across the country to support women facing various forms of gender-based violence.
WHY IS THE PROJECT INITIATED?
India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) in 2019-2021 reported that one in three married women has experienced Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). However, around 9 in 10 women have never sought help when they faced violence. IPV and abuse is not only a core human rights violation but also makes the women vulnerable to experiencing debilitating consequences to their mental and physical health. In a study conducted in 2009, of the 59 women reporting IPV, as high as 99% of women met the criteria for depression and 14% met the criteria for PTSD (Chandra et al., 2009). Gender-based violence is prevalent across the lifespan and occurs in various contexts. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the rate of gender-based violence manifold. Therefore, mental health support is highly imperative and needs to be tailored to the individual woman and her unique needs.
WHAT IS AVAILABLE?
The Government of India over the years has taken several steps to make help accessible to women facing violence. As an outcome of these initiatives, various One Stop Centres (OSCs) and women helplines have been established and made functional in the country. At present, 688 OSCs have been made operational in the country, out of the total 733 OSCs that have been approved. According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development statistics (updated in June, 2020), the OSCs across the country have helped over 3,05,896 women.
Project Stree Manoraksha aims to train around 1400 counsellors and more than 2000 other OSC staff to provide Trauma-Informed Care for women facing violence and abuse. The training will be conducted online synchronously and asynchronously comprising of Basic Training for the OSC staff across the country focusing on mental health and psycho-social care and an Advanced Course for the OSC counsellors focusing on Trauma-Focused Approaches. Owing to the COVID 19 pandemic, the training will also include a curriculum in tele counselling. At the end of each training module, the participants will be given certificates and study materials.
