A webinar on ‘Domestic Violence Act: Problems and Solutions’ held on Sunday called upon society to empower girls to become independent.
“Parents should empower them with education to be independent,” said District Collector Mrunmai Joshi. Presiding over the webinar, she exhorted those facing torture to return home with courage. “Families and society have a responsibility to rehabilitate victims of domestic violence,” she said.
The webinar was held under the joint banner of Victims Information, Sensitisation, Welfare and Assistance Society (VISWAS), District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), and Yuvaswaraj, Palakkad.
Inaugurating the webinar, district panchayat president K. Binumol said women should react against dowry-related domestic tortures, and the culprits should be brought to book. She said many educated women were suffering because of their ‘false familial pride’. “This situation helps increase the incidence of domestic violence,” she said.
Quoting the United Nations figures in her guest speech, District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) secretary and sub judge V.G. Anupama said one-third of women were victims of some form of domestic violence. “But very few have been complaining,” she said.
VISWAS legal forum convener K. Vijaya delivered the keynote address. District Women and Child Development Officer P. Meera, District Women Protection Officer Laiju, and senior prosecutor and VISWAS secretary P. Premnath spoke.
