(iii)End forced early marriage and premature pregnancy, the leading cause of death of
girls between 15 to 19 years of age. Programs like Apni Beti Apna Dhan (ABAD),
which offer conditional cash transfers as incentives to families to delay their
daughter’s marriages, will likely help reduce early marriages and allow girls to
develop both physically and mentally before marriage and child-birth
(iv) Bring greater attention to violence that is perpetrated by a partner or spouse and
reporting such violence. There is a tendency in the society to ignore violence from
partners because abuse from a spouse was not considered to be a violation of a
woman’s rights
(v) Revise marriage laws that are institutionally biased against women, particularly those
that deny women custody over their children, inheritance, and land rights in cases of
death, separation or divorce.
OTHER MEASURES
i.
Conscientise the women through education
ii.
Introduce and promote gender sensitisation and training of all service providers
engaged in the administration of justice, such as judicial officers, prosecutors, police,
prison, welfare and health officials aimed at eradicating violence against women and
children
iii.
Encourage the exchange of national, regional and international best practices for the
eradication of violence against women and children;
iv.
Provide easily accessible information on services available to women and children
victims/survivors of violence, including women and children with disabilities;
v.
Ensure accessible, effective and responsive police, prosecutorial, health, social welfare
and other services, and establishing specialised units to redress cases of violence
against women and children;
vi.
Encourage the media to play a constructive role in the eradication of violence against
women and children by adopting guidelines which ensure sensitive coverage of the
issue and avoid the perpetuation of stereotypes
Dr. George Varghese, MTTC Pathanapuram
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