BENGALURU, 17 FEB

Bengaluru City Police established Vanitha Sahayavani (women’s helpline and counselling centre) in 1999 to provide support to women in distress. However, shortage of staff to manage the workload has hindered its effectiveness.

The City is home to three Vanitha Sahayavani centres, which are attached to  Malleswaram, Basavangudi and Infantry Road police stations. Each centre is staffed with two counsellors and one police sub inspector and they handle more than 20 complaints daily. Additionally, there is one person dedicated to managing the helpline and scheduling appointments. These centres operate under the Deputy Commissioners of Police in the City.

The services provided by the centre include telephonic counselling, rescuing women in crisis, supporting those facing domestic violence, harassment and abuse, as well as offering family counselling and rehabilitation. Besides, couples seeking counselling walk in most of the days.

Two counsellors at a centre are not enough to manage more than 20 cases in a day, an inspector at Vanitha Sahayavani centre, who didn’t wish to be named, told Salar News. “Many a times, counselling sessions take hours and we can manage only 5-10 cases daily. People dropping by usually wants immediate counselling, apparently due to the gravity of their problems. The workload often results in a waiting period of 1-2 weeks for a counselling session. This delay is forcing many to withdraw the complaints, worsening their psychological and mental health,” the inspector said.

The police department should double the staff strength, then the only the centre serve its intended purpose to the society, the inspector said.

Besides, some people visiting the centre are not seriously seeking redress, the inspector said. “Many couples who seek counselling are not genuinely interested in receiving help. This leads to wasted time and resources, preventing the centre from assisting those with genuine needs.”

Domestic violence, however, remains on top of the list of a number of complaints received at the centres. Out of these, over 25 per cent are filed by men claiming harassment by women.

Some complainants approach the center merely to intimidate their spouses into resolving issues. “I just want to threaten my husband to stop drinking and that is why I’m here to file a complaint,” said Jaylatha, who hailed from Malleshwaram, said. —Salar News