Teaching students about sexual violence

The Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) has come up with a module for school students to sensitise and make them aware of the forms that sexual violence can take and how to avoid or report them.

The objective of the programme is to enable the students, aged between 14 to 18 years, to identify forms of sexual violence and empower them to take remedial action if any such incident takes place with them or someone they know.

The students will also be cautioned that if they commit such an act, they could be held responsible for their actions under the law.

The module is the brainchild of Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal, who is also the executive chairperson of the DSLSA.

On several occasions, the judge had expressed concern about increasing number of cases of sexual violence and child sexual abuse.

Justice Mittal launched the programme at Modern School, Barakhamba Road, on Tuesday where students got a crash course on the issue. The sensitisation programme also aims at enabling the students to understand the functioning of police stations, hospitals and courts and in turn the criminal justice system.

The students were taken for a visit to the Barakhamba police station and Lok Nayak Hospital by the DSLSA. At the hospital, the students were taken to the ‘One Stop Centre’, which provides medical assistance, counselling and other facilities to victims of sexual offences and abuse.

At Barakhamba Road police station, the students were made aware of how a victim or a complainant can lodge a compliant or register an FIR.

The DSLSA said the programme will be conducted at Air Force Bal Bharti School and Mothers International School on Thursday and Friday respectively.