CBM partner Dr. Somervell Memorial CSI Mission Hospital organises self help groups for women with psychosocial disabilities in Kerala, South India. Community workers are recruited from their own neighbourhood adding to the sense of ownership by the group members. This concept is the culmination of a long track laid out by CBM and partners since the 2004 Asian tsunami.
Swanchetan Society for Mental Health
Dr. Rajat Mitra is a clinical psychologist and Director of the Swanchetan Society for Mental Health in New Delhi. Swanchetan works with survivors of gender-based violence, offering a 24 hour crisis intervention centre with trauma counseling and advisory services. The centre has helped nearly 8,000 women survivors chronicle violations, pursue prosecution, provide details neglected by police investigations, and in general navigate a difficult judicial system. It marks the first time the Indian Police has partnered with a civil society organization to support survivors. In June 2011, Dr. Mitra accepted the UN Public Service Awards for Asia, the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service.
Why has New Delhi become one of the world’s most violent cities for women?
Law enforcement is extremely poor. You can commit a crime and get away with it. Law enforcement on gender-based issues is particularly poor, and more so for women from lower-caste or other marginalized backgrounds. Delhi also has a violent past, with nothing done so far to get over that legacy.There is a lot of public awareness that the city is not safe. But not enough people are demanding change. Improving the situation requires that people no longer get away with crimes, and that the criminal justice system and police force are sensitive to women’s concerns and give priority to services they need.Why does your centre focus primarily on trauma counseling?At one point, I was in a police station, and saw the way the police were treating women. It shook me up, and made me feel that we should develop trauma counseling so that women can gain a sense of healing, and from there take a step towards claiming justice and their human rights. In one recent case, for example, a woman survivor of trafficking gathered enough courage after several sessions of counseling to testify against a crime syndicate, so she helped herself and other victims.Counseling is also a point of entry that law enforcement is open to, because they do not see it as directly interfering. We starting working with the police after the National Human Rights Commission noticed what we were doing. The commission wrote to the police and suggested they work with us. The first year, they were very hostile. But once we stood with patience and perseverance, and some conscientious officers saw we are apolitical, that attitude began to change. And we are making progress. Psychological testimony is now being used in the courts for the first time, because women provide us with details that may not appear in police reports. This is helping survivors and the criminal justice system, because it is becoming more evidence-based.What have you learned from your work?That civil society, the judicial system and mental health professionals should work together. If you can counsel women so they can talk about the narrative of their trauma more clearly, you can help them find justice and increase the conviction rate. Also, those of us outside the criminal justice system need to participate in it, and not just leave it in the hands of the government. That gives greater transparency for all concerned, and a much greater sense of safety for survivors.Most of our work is with women from lower social and economic backgrounds, because they suffer the most. Another lesson we have learned is that we have had to develop new models of counseling for them because they can have a profound sense of exclusion. One day I went to counsel a woman, and she told me she is an untouchable, and could not sit opposite to me, only below me. I understood then that the notion of untouchability makes everyday experiences so different—those of us who do not live with this do not even fully understand what it means. Often in counseling we will ask women what their greatest problem is.Sometimes this may not be the violence she has experienced. In one case, a woman in a rural area was raped. She reported the incident to the police, and because she was from a lower caste, the upper caste community of the perpetrator closed all the pathways to her community. The whole community was isolated, and everyone was punished because they had to travel a long way to the main road. She asked us to please help open the pathways—that was her main concern. So even though that is not our normal role, we took it upon ourselves to complain to the police about the closure of the pathways and are still fighting the issue.
What have you learned specifically from women survivors?
Women have tremendous resilience and can develop a collective power to defeat systems that do not provide justice to them. Women in India feel an innate need for justice. They are not willing any more not to have justice. Sometimes people look powerless, but deep inside they are preparing to struggle for their human rights. They have started to realize that the political class has failed, so they have to rely on their own power, their own gathering of inner strength to take them forward.What is one action that others should take?Speak up. Voice what has gone wrong and do that together as a collective. Don’t be silent, because silence is the biggest ally of the offender.For us, we are very honoured to receive the UN public service award, because this gives us visibility and helps us take our campaign for gender justice forward. The fact that an international body has taken note of an issue and wants change is important. We are working on very sensitive subjects, so when there is international attention, it helps in bringing about change. We are already feeling that.Copyright 2022 @ A Celebration of Women™ The World Hub for Women Leaders That Care
Swanchetan Society for Mental Health in New Delhi, Rajat Mitra
July 6, 2011 by
