GW 2 1
GW 2 1
     Gender Watch
           Monthly, Vol. 2 Issue 1   August 2018
Gender Watch                                            1
Vol 2. Issue 1                             August 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION 12
Gender Watch                                         2
Vol 2. Issue 1                                                                                       August 2018
COVER STORY
Source
I. Introduction
The revelations of rampant physical and sexual abuse of girls in two different shelter homes have laid bare the
dire situation of the shelter homes in the country. First in late July, gruesome details of the situation in the
shelter home in Muzaffarpur came out when police took action against the accused. This was based on a
report by a team of researchers from TISS commissioned by the state government to conduct a social audit of
all the 110 shelter homes in Bihar. It was revealed that 29 (now 34) minor girls (aged 7 to 17) out of 44 had
been subjected to sexual abuse in the shelter home run by NGO Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti (Fresh
Medical Reports Confirm 5 More Rape Cases At Bihar Shelter Home, 2018). The involvement of members
from the child welfare committee as well as politicians further aggravated the situation. Within few days of this,
another set of horrifying details came to light from a shelter home in Deoria in Uttar Pradesh. It was found that
the girls in a shelter home (Maa Vindhyavasini Mahila and Balika Sanrakshan Griha) were being subjected to
constant physical and sexual abuse (Seth, 2018). The disturbing details of both the events led to outbreak of
public anger against the state as well as the central government. Sadly, these are not isolated events. The
above mentioned TISS report revealed that almost all the shelter homes (110) in Bihar were not complying with
the guidelines, there were 6 other cases of sexual abuse and 14 cases of physical violence (Singh, 2018). A
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number of such cases have come to light from other states as well. The central government in its response to
the Supreme Court revealed that in a survey of 9,589 child care institutions completed in 2017, 1,575 cases of
sexual abuse was found (1575 Minor Victims Of Sex Abuse Stay At Child Care Institutions: Centre, 2018). In
this issue of Gender Watch, we identify some of the core concerns that have impacted the working of child care
institutions in the country and have led to this grim situation.
According to Juvenile Justice (Care and protection for children) Act 2015 child care institutions are meant for
housing ‘Children in need of care and protection’ or ‘Children in conflict with law’.‘Children in conflict with law’
are the children who have committed an offence but are less than eighteen year old on the day of the
commission of the offence. ‘Children in need of care and protection’ constitutes of a number of parameters.
These include children, who have been abandoned by their guardians, do not have a home of their own, are
physically or mentally challenged with no one to look after them or are in a vulnerable situation like working in
contravention of labour laws or living under potential threat of assaults from people around them. According to
government record there are a total of 2.61 lakh children living in CCIs at present. This figure though differs
from the figure of 4.73 lakh that came out in the survey of CCIs by Childline Foundation completed in last
December (Supreme Court shocked over 2 lakh children 'missing' in survey on child care institutions, 2018).
According to the survey 9,382 children reside in the homes belonged to the category of ‘Conflict with law’. The
mammoth difference in the figure though does not speak well for government’s mechanism. Let us now look at
the regulatory and monitoring mechanism of the Child Care Homes.
             CCIs include children homes, observation homes, special homes, places of safety, special adoption
             agency and open shelters. These are either managed by state government or non-governmental
             organization for providing residential care to children on a short-term or a long-term basis. According to
             the latest government data there are a total of 7109 registered CCIs in the country. Tamil Nadu has the
             maximum number of CCIs (1296) in all the states with the maximum number of inmates (62023). The
             states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh come at second and third number with 918and 824 CCIs with
             37014 and 30681 inmates respectively. The date of the other states is available here1.
             •       Source of fund: In the present mechanism, the setting up and maintenance of these
             institutions are funded centrally by Ministry of Women and Child Development under “Integrated
             Child Development program”.
1
    164.100.158.235/question/annex/246/Au1109.docx
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        •        Legal Provisions: These institutions are required to register themselves with the state
        government under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 20152. The standard
        facilities and parameters for the institutions are listed in Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of
        Children) Model Rules, 20163 on the basis of which auditors are expected to judge and review the
        homes. Now let us look at the monitoring mechanism.
        •        For monitoring by the centre, National Commission for protection of Child Rights
        (NCPCR) a statutory body is the nodal agency for monitoring the implementation of the directions by
        Supreme Court asking the states to implement the provisions of the JJ Act. It is mandated to inquire
        into complaints or take sou motu notice of violation of child rights under the POSCO act 2012.
        •        The primary responsibility of execution of the JJ Act lies with the state/Union territories.
        The clauses in the Act also reiterate the claim except the clause 55(2) which states that in case of
        independent evaluation by both the state as well the central government, the evaluation made by the
        Central government shall prevail. All the other sections of the Act lay down the responsibilities of
        state government as well as the other bodies responsible for monitoring the working of the institutions.
        ➢        Child Welfare Committees: State government shall constitute a Child Welfare Committee in
        every district. Committee shall consist of a chairperson and four other members. The committees
        should have four members and one chairperson. It should have one women member and one expert
        on the matters of the children. District magistrate is required to conduct a quarterly review of the
        committee.
        The committee has a set of functions, ranging from taking the cognizance of and receiving the children
        produced before it, conducting inquiry on all issues affecting the safety and well-being of the children
        under the JJ Act, conducting at least two inspection visits per month of residential facilities for children
        in need for care and protection.
        ➢        Management Committee: Every Child Care Institution is required to have a Management
        Committee to monitor the affairs of the home. The Chairperson of the committee is the District Child
        protection Officer.
        ➢        District inspection committee: State government shall appoint inspection committees for the
        state and district for all the child care institutions. Inspection committees shall mandatorily conduct visit
        to the institutions once in three months and should have at least three members. The committee
http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Juvenile%20Justice/JJ%20bill%20as%20passed%20by%20L
S.pdf
3
  http://www.wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/171861.pdf
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         should have at least one woman and one medical officer. The reports of the visit are required to be
         submitted to the District Child Protection Unit.
The existing system as we can see has a number of provisions for monitoring the working of the Child Care
institutions and yet the shocking set of incidents across different states is reflective of the failure of this existing
mechanism and therefore it becomes pertinent for us to identify the reasons that might have led to the present
situation.
Both the incidents of Muzaffarpur as well as Deoria have highlighted the major shortcomings of the present
system. The sheer extent to which the rules were being flouted is a grim reminder of the scale of the problems.
Some of the core set of concerns are:
    •    Responsibility of the central government: While it is true that the central government is not
         directly involved in the running of the CCIs, it does play a supervisory role since it provides the funding.
         Therefore its culpability for the current situation needs to be taken into account. The central
         government has the power to carry out social audits and take action against non-compliance. As stated
         above, the central government shared the figures of the survey completed in 2017 stating that 1575
         cases of sexual abuse have been reported. The same survey had pointed out that a total of 4,416
         homes were using harsh and regressive methods against children. While in a parliamentary response,
         the government stated that it has pursued only 38 cases of abuse in last three years in CCIs. This
         implies that the central government chose to avoid taking action even after having the knowledge of
         the scale of the problem. The government ordered a pan-country social audit of all the CCIs after the
         reports of the Muzaffarpur and Deoria got highlighted in the media. It is evident that the government
         allowed problems to aggravate and was forced to take action after the incidents got highlighted in
         Media. While the central government certainly needs to bear the responsibility, the other set of
         concerns that have come to light after the incidents direct us towards much deeper rot in the system.
• Administrative failure
         a)      Complicity of the officials: One of the core concerns that the recent cases have highlighted
         is the level of complicity of the people mandated to monitor the system. The present mechanism puts
         a great deal of onus on the district level bodies. In the Muzaffarpur case, the members of the district
         child protection officer as well as the members of the district child welfare committee are part of the list
         of the accused people. The latter is a quasi-judicial body. The failure of such bodies raises doubts on
         the efficacy of having a decentralised mechanism in place. Moreover, the facts that have surfaced
         after the events broke out in media further demonstrate the colossal administrative failure. According to
         media reports, the NGO that was responsible for the Muzaffarpur NGO got a contract as late as 31
         May, the same day the police filed a FIR against it and two months after the submission of report
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        (singh, 2018). Similarly, the registration of NGO in Deoria was cancelled in 2017 and yet it continued to
        function (Inmates Were Sent to Deoria Shelter Home Even After It Was Derecognised, 2018).
        b)         Nexus involving officials and politicians: Another common concern that stemmed out of the
        events is the nexus of those running the shelter homes with politicians, administrative officers and
        police officials. In Muzaffarpur case, along with the involvement of the district officials, the husband of
        former social welfare minister is accused of being involved in the wrongdoing of the NGO. In Deoria
        case, the police officials have been accused of dereliction of duty (Shelter home case: Deoria SP
        transferred, role of police stations being investigated, 2018).
        a)     The existing mechanism has a number of provisions of inspections from different authorities and
               yet none of these managed to uncover the prevailing situation in the shelter homes revealed by the
               TISS Survey. The present system with its committees at district level, government agencies or
               officers stress on the administrative aspects of the shelter homes overlooks the lived experience of
               the inmates.
        b) Lack of sensitisation among the staff and those who run these shelter homes is evident from the
               recent events and data that have come in public knowledge. It needs to be pointed that there are
               provisions in the JJ Act to sensitize different stakeholders involved. Sensitisation of people who are
               running the centre is an essential aspect that needs to be emphasized.
• Economic mismanagement
        Mismanagement of funds as well as lack of transparency in the flow of funds is another issue that is
        ailing the present system. This was prevalent in the cases of Muzaffarpur and Deoria as well. Brajesh
        Thakur, who was running the Muzaffarpur shelter home, was getting INR 1 crore rupees every year by
        the state to run five shelters for girls and women in Muzaffarpur (Poonam, 2018). The fact that he was
        being provided with the sum irrespective of the situation of the shelter homes is reflective of lack of
        scrutiny in usage of funds. Similarly in the case of Deoria, Girija Tripathi, responsible for running the
        centre confessed swindling of funds. These developments underscore the failure of the social welfare
        department to keep a scrutiny on the financial functioning of the shelter homes.
        Experts argue that although the existing mechanism does contain a number of provisions to keep the
        working of shelter homes under check, the failure in their execution is reminder of their inadequacy.
        Therefore a number of suggestions and recommendations have put forward. Some of these are listed
        below.
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         •     Consistent sensitisation of the all the stakeholders involved: Experts argue that
               efficient monitoring methods for CCIs need to be complimented with constant sensitisation about
               the rights of the inmates. The women and children in shelter homes constitute the most vulnerable
               sections of the society and it is important that they are treated as fully rights-bearing citizens and
               should be empowered as they are the biggest stakeholders of these shelters. Therefore, those
               running the centre (including the staff) as well as other stakeholders responsible for the smooth
               functioning of the homes need to be aligned to this understanding.
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At the outset it needs to be acknowledged if implemented in spirit, JJ Act 2015 has a number of provisions to
deal with the malfunctioning of Child Care Institutions. The task at hand therefore is to bring in provisions and
policy instruments to make them work. The case of Muzaffarpur is a clear example of this. The social audit
managed to do what a number of inspections be it state women commission, district inspection committee
failed to do. The complicity of the state agency therefore makes the role of the external independent body
extremely critical. The nature of this body can vary. For example, the Supreme Court suggested the central
government to appoint national as well as state level commissions to monitor the working of the CCIs. It was
suggested that these could be constituted of civil society members and headed by a former Judge. At the same
time, the cases of deplorable conditions of CCIs are also emblematic of lack of sensitisation among those who
are responsible for running the centre as well as the ones responsible for monitoring it. Therefore consistent
efforts are required to be made in this direction.
The Bihar government after the Muzaffarpur revelation cancelled the selection of the NGOs and decided to run
the shelter homes on its own. The Women and Child Development minister has also proposed an idea of state
and centre running a common shelter home on its own. While such initiatives might seem apt considering the
conditions of CCIs run by NGOs, we need to take into account the involvement of state authorities in the
highlighted cases. The situation at hand demands a grounded approach by keeping the women and children at
the centre. Their psychological needs, their personal freedom, their involvement in decisions pertaining to their
lives, all these needs to be accounted for. Punitive action against the culprits and violators is necessary but at
the same time we need to instil a sense of self-worth among those who have been failed by the system.
References
1575 Minor Victims Of Sex Abuse Stay At Child Care Institutions: Centre. (2018, August 15). Retrieved August
31, 2018, from www.ndtv.com: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/1-575-minor-victims-of-sexual-abuse-stay-at-
child-care-institutions-centre-to-supreme-court-1900636
Fresh Medical Reports Confirm 5 More Rape Cases At Bihar Shelter Home. (2018, July 30). Retrieved August
31, 2018, from NDTV: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/fresh-medical-reports-confirm-5-more-rape-cases-at-
bihar-shelter-home-1891748
Inmates Were Sent to Deoria Shelter Home Even After It Was Derecognised. (2018, August 10). Retrieved
August 31, 2018, from The wire.in: https://thewire.in/government/inmates-were-sent-to-deoria-shelter-home-
even-after-it-was-derecognised
Johari, A. (2018, July 30). Bihar child rapes: Regular social audits must in shelters, says professor whose
report exposed case. Retrieved August 31, 2018, from Scroll.in: https://scroll.in/article/888474/bihar-child-
rapes-regular-social-audits-must-in-shelters-says-professor-whose-report-exposed-case
Lalwani, v. (2018, August 13). Sex abuse cases: Children’s shelter homes across India lack funds, strong
monitoring, say activists. Retrieved August 31, 2018, from Scroll.in: https://scroll.in/article/889599/this-is-the-
travesty-activists-say-childrens-shelter-homes-across-india-lack-funds-monitoring
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Poonam, S. (2018, August 9). In Muzaffarpur’s shelter home, a web of silence shielded sexual abuse.
Retrieved August 31, 2018, from Hindustan Times: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/a-web-of-
silence-shielded-sexual-abuse-at-bihar-s-muzaffarpur-shelter-home/story-XnX0uvz17B8zuzNiIygeqI.html
Seth, M. (2018, August 7). Muzaffarpur echo in UP’s Deoria: ‘Char baje jaati thi, subah aati thi’. Retrieved
August 31, 2018, from Indian express: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/up-deoria-shelter-home-sexual-
abuse-case-24-girls-rescued-5294943/
Shelter home case: Deoria SP transferred, role of police stations being investigated. (2018, August 17).
Retrieved August 31, 2018, from Indian Express: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/up-shelter-
home-case-deoria-sp-transferred-role-of-police-stations-being-investigated-5310938/
singh, S. (2018, August 4). Month after report red-flagged abuse at girls’ shelter, Bihar NGO got another govt
project. Retrieved August 31, 2018, from Indian express: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/month-after-
report-red-flagged-abuse-at-girls-shelter-bihar-ngo-got-another-govt-project-5281190/
Singh, S. (2018, August 4). Sexual abuse at six homes, physical violence at 14: Report to Bihar govt. Retrieved
August 31, 2018, from Indian express: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/sexual-abuse-at-6-homes-
physical-violence-at-14-report-to-bihar-govt-5281192/
Supreme Court shocked over 2 lakh children 'missing' in survey on child care institutions. (2018, August 21).
Retrieved August 31, 2018, from New indian express :
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2018/aug/21/supreme-court-shocked-over-2-lakh-children-missing-in-
survey-on-child-care-institutions-1860937.html
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     Vol 2. Issue 1                                                                                       August 2018
                                           EQUALITY
Women flies fighter plan in Japan for the first time
Justin McCurry, The Guardian
Matsushima became Japan’s first female fighter pilot after completing her training this week. Three years ago, Japan
had lifted its ban on women becoming fighter pilots.
Japan’s air force relaxed gender based restriction on a host of roles in 1993 but continued to allow only men to pilot
fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft.
Matsushima, a graduate of Japan’s National Defence Academy, initially planned to fly transport planes but set her
sights on becoming a fighter pilot as soon as the gender restrictions were lifted in late 2015, as part of Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe’s mission to create more work opportunities for women.
Ryoko Azuma became the first woman earlier this year to command a warship squadron as Japan’s navy attempts to
make up a shortfall in personnel caused by the dwindling population of working-age people.
Read More
The Venice Film Festival, which started on 29th August, is being criticized by the European Women’s Audiovisual
Network and other women’s organizations for leaving out women directors from the festival’s competition section. Only
one film directed by a woman has been included in the competition titles and this has happened for the second year in
a row. The movie accepted for this year’s festival is Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale.”
Read More
Read More
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    Vol 2. Issue 1                                                                                    August 2018
            DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION
US’s most sexist states revealed in major new report.
Maya Oppenheim, The Independent
America’s most sexist states have been revealed in a new report which suggests that women from areas with higher
levels of misogyny earn less money. This report states Arkansas to be the most sexist among all state as stated by the
researchers at the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute and National University Singapore. New
Hampshire was the last in the list.
They also sought to understand the prevalence of sexist beliefs in the areas where women grew up and in the places
they worked as adults affected outcomes such as wages, workforce participation, and the age they marry or have
children. They concluded that the prevalence of sexism in a women’s birth state appeared to affect her later earnings
and outcomes even if she relocates to a place with less sexism.
Read More
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    Gender Watch                                                                                                12
       Vol 2. Issue 1                                                                                       August 2018
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       Gender Watch                                                                                                   13
Vol 2. Issue 1                                                                                     August 2018
  Saudi Arabian prosecutors are seeking death sentence for five human rights activists, including a woman
  who is thought to be the first female campaigner in the country facing execution, rights groups have said.
  Israa al-Ghomgham, a Shia activist arrested with her husband in 2015, will be tried in the country’s
  terrorism tribunal even though charges she faces relate to peaceful activism, Human Rights Watch said.
  Women have been executed before in Saudi Arabia, which has one of the world’s highest rates of
  execution: suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking face the
  death penalty. But Ghomgham is the first woman to possibly face execution for activism, and other
  campaigners fear it could set a dangerous precedent. She will be tried in the specialised criminal court set
  up in 2008 for terrorism cases. The kingdom has previously executed Shia activists following trials at the
  same court that Amnesty International described as “grossly unfair”.
  The UN has also previously warned that Saudi Arabia was abusing anti-terror laws and institutions to crack
  down on dissent.
Read More
  Myanmar's military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingyas with "genocidal intent" and the
  commander-in-chief and five generals should be prosecuted, UN investigators said. It was the first time the
  United Nations explicitly called for Myanmar officials to face genocide charges over their campaign against
  the Rohingyas, and is likely to deepen the Southeast Asian nation's isolation. The UN mission found
  Myanmar's armed forces had taken actions that "undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under
  international law", forcing more than 700,000 Rohingyas to flee starting in late August 2017.
Read More
  Sweden’s music festival is reserved for women and transgender to ensure their
  safety
  (Christina Anderson and Ceylan Yeginsu, The New York Times)
  The Statement Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden is the world’s first music festival which is exclusively for
  women and transgender. This event is first of its kind as it has the unequivocal goal of creating a safe
  space for women. The event is being held after a wave of episodes of sexual harassment at other events in
  Sweden, including allegations of rape and 23 sexual assaults at the country’s biggest music festival,
  Bravalla, which was canceled this year because organizers could not guarantee a safe environment.
Read More
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   Vol 2. Issue 1                                                   August 2018
SUPERVISER
COORDINATORS
   Subhrali Kachari
   Junior Policy Associate
   Contact: Subhrali.kachari@rgics.org
   Neha Panchpal
   Junior Policy Associate
   Contact: Neha.panchpal@rgics.org
   Piyush Kumar
   Junior Policy Associate
   Contact: piyush.kumar@rgics.org
Gender Watch 15