In the newly formed state of Telangana, safety, security, peace and tranquillity are given top priority. It is believed that safety of citizens especially women will lead to development of state in all sectors.
In this backdrop, the concept of SHE Teams was developed, which produced good results.
The SHE Teams were launched in Hyderabad City on 24th October, 2014. There are 100 teams working to prevent harassment of women in the public places in Hyderabad City. The teams are moving round the clock to ensure the safety of women.
Since the launch, the teams have made their mark in catching the erring persons, creating deterrence in their minds and building up a sense of security among the women.As a result of successful working and positive results in Hyderabad City, the program was extended to the Cyberabad in December 2014 and later to the entire state of Telangana from 1st April, 2015. The success of SHE Teams has prompted other states also to start such teams in their states including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh etc.
RESULTS:
There is a drastic reduction of harassment to women in the public places and a deterrence has been created among the boys as there is a sense of fear that the SHE Teams are watching.
Several people have been caught red handed and jailed and cases including those under Criminal Law Amendment Act-2013 have been booked.
Offenders who harass women through phone calls, E-mails, Social Media etc are tracked down by dedicated officers using the latest technology in cyber crime.
Total cases registered :-
Total 2220 complaints were received by different means and attended to by the teams. Direct complaints 378, e-mail-165, face book-320, whatsapp-162, hawk eye-38 and Dial 100-1157.
712 persons were caught red handed by the teams, while on patrol. 510 are majors and 202 are minors.
2 PD Act cases, 1 POCSO Act case, 65 Nirbhaya and IT Act cases were registered and investigated into. 268 petty cases were registered and 339 persons were warned for good behaviour.
AGE WISE CLASSIFICATION OF OFFENDERS :
1. Minors-22%
2. 18-20 years-41%
3. 21-40 years-36%
4. 41-55 years-0.8%
5. >55 years-0.2%
NATURE OF OFFENCES:
Stalking-39%
Phone harassment-32%
Passing lewd comments-15%
Harassment through social media, sending photos, videos to the mobile phones etc-9%
Touching inappropriately-3%
Taking photos without the knowledge of the victim-2%
AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS:
Anti eve teasing campaigns and awareness programs are an important activity of SHE Teams, as it is important for women to know about the help on hand and for the offenders to be aware that they cannot get away lightly by thinking that there is no one watching their movements.
Awareness is also created by the teams in bus stands, colleges, hostels, shopping malls and other hotspots regarding SHE TEAMS.
Posters, pamphlets, stickers etc are also distributed for creating awareness.Digital displays at traffic junctions create awareness too.Short films, SHE TEAM songs have been prepared.
Slides also have been prepared to be displayed at cinema theatres.Runs have also been organized to create awareness.Legal awareness camps and self defence techniques have been imparted to school and college students.
SHORT FILMS:-
To create positive impact on the minds of people and to propagate the message to respect women, good message oriented short films are made by taking small real life incidents as examples to explain how She teams will help the women in trouble. Some short films were already made and circulated among the youth. In continuation of this, the short film was made under the direction of Mr Jay Bharath, film director, K Ramachary, well known musician, singer, founder of little musician academy and Vamshi, Actor, Dubbing artist and RJ. These films would be shown in the theatres ,Multiplex and TV Channels
AUDIO RECORDINGS:-
People go out for work and move on roads every day. They will be stopping at junctions for traffic signals,keenly concentrating on the signal to turn green. This is the right time to draw their attention and to make them aware of the women safety issues. With the help of Mr.Vamsi and Ms.Sameera upcoming playback singer and dubbing artist, audio recording have been made mentioning the details about how to respect women, how to approach the teams in case of any problem. The will be played at all traffic junctions in Hyderabad city
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:
All citizens are encouraged to report any kind of harassment that they witness.
The public are also assured that the victims or the person giving such information would not be exposed and their identity would not be revealed to anyone.
IMPACT OF SHE TEAMS:
The feedback received from the general public, college and school students, working women etc has been that a sense of security is felt among the women. There is also a deterrence among the eve teasers. The public have appreciated this initiative.
FUTURE PLAN OF ACTION
In the path of providing safety and security to women, to reach the people of all strata and ages, different kinds of posters, banners, pamphlets, movie slides, short films and folk songs are prepared to convey the safety message.
Volunteers from all age groups, reformed accused, NGOs, and eminent persons from all the fields including the print and electronic media are doing their best and taking this programme as a people’s movement to change the mindset of the people as a whole. By this we can all strive together to provide a safe and secure environment to the people of the state to achieve the task of Golden Telangana.
Sd/-
M.MAHENDAR REDDY IPS
Commissioner of Police,
Hyderabad City.
Dated: 01-09-2016