The toll-free helpline number is 181.
About the scheme:
Popularly known as Sakhi, Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has formulated this Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

It is a sub – scheme of Umbrella Scheme for National Mission for Empowerment of women including Indira Gandhi Mattritav Sahyaog Yojana.

Under the scheme, One Stop Centres are being established across the country to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces in phased manner.

Target group: The OSC will support all women including girls below 18 years of age affected by violence, irrespective of caste, class, religion, region, sexual orientation or marital status.

These centres can be contacted for:

• Emergency Response and Rescue Services
• Medical assistance
• Assistance in lodging FIR /NCR/DIR
• Psycho - social support/ counselling
• Legal aid and counselling
• Shelter
• Video Conferencing Facility to record statement for police/ courts

Funds:

The Scheme will be funded through Nirbhaya Fund. The Central Government will provide 100% financial assistance to the State Government /UT Administrations under the Scheme.

Need for protection:
Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a global health, human rights and development issue that transcends geography, class, culture, age, race and religion to affect every community and country in every corner of the world.

The Article 1 of UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence 1993 provides a definition of gender – based abuse, calling it “any act of gender – based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.

In India, gender based violence has many manifestations; from the more universally prevalent forms of domestic and sexual violence including rape, to harmful practices such as, dowry, honour killings, acid attacks, witch – hunting, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse, trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, child marriage, sex selective abortion, sati etc.

Objectives of one-stop centres:

• OSCs aim to support women who are affected by violence in private and public spaces, within the family, community and at the workplace.
• The initiative intends to provide support, remedy and specialized services to women facing physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and economic abuse irrespective of their age, class, caste, education status, marital status, race and culture.

Functioning of OSCs:

• Even after three years of the establishment of OSCs, there are many complaints regarding their malfunctioning.
• According to the Women and Child Development Ministry, as many as 30 OSCs have been approved to start functioning in Odisha. However, only four of them are functional in the state.
• Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of OSCs at 50 and a total of 3,217 people have benefited by it.
• Similarly, out of 654 centres approved all over the country, only 234 OSCs are functional and 1,90,572 women were supported through these centres till now.

How to Use One Stop Centre Scheme:

A woman affected by violence can access OSC in the given manner:

• A woman can access either by herself; or
• She can access through any person including any public-spirited citizen, public servant (as defined under section 21 of Indian Penal Code, 1860), relative, friend, NGO, volunteer etc.
• Apart from this, OSC can be accessed through women helpline integrated with police, ambulance and other emergency response helplines.
• The ministry has been implementing OSC scheme since April 1, 2015 to support women victims of violence. Under the scheme, it has been envisaged that OSCs would be set up across the country in a phased manner.

Mahila E-haat Scheme Features Benefits and Eligibility