Women Safety Initiatives

• 19 Feb 2019

Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched three important initiatives on women’s safety.

• The Ministry of Women and Child Development has conceptualized these initiatives to promote the safety of women in their living spaces, working spaces, and public spaces.

Panic Button

• The Ministry of Telecom mandated a physical panic button on all mobile phones in the country in 2015.
• It was noted that such a panic button must be backed by an emergency response mechanism through the local police when the panic button message would alert the specified family members etc. of a woman in distress situation.
• Now a dedicated Emergency Response Centre has been established through which the entire system will be operated.

SCIM portal under Safe City Project

• An online Safe City Implementation Monitoring (SCIM) portal has been developed by The Ministry of Home Affairs. SCIM will facilitate online tracking of deployment of assets and infrastructure created under the Safe City projects.
• The Government has identified eight cities for implementation of Safe City project.  The projects include creation on ground assets & resources and mindset safety of women.

DNA Analysis Facilities in States

• Timely testing of DNA samples from the crime scene is the quickest process of obtaining forensic evidence in cases of sexual assault on women.
• Due to delay in cases of sexual assault investigations, dedicated DNA analysis facilities will be created in the forensic science laboratories on a mission mode.