Bhubaneswar : Jindal Stainless Foundation, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of Jindal Stainless, and The Women of Elements Trust launched project ‘Stainless Aashiyana’ to help women and children who are victims of domestic violence in the country.
Under this project, a free helpline number – 9310283304 has been set up to offer counsel and suggest legal recourse to callers. Awareness sessions on domestic violence will also be organised in Delhi and Haryana and pro-bono legal support will be provided to people from low income group.
Commenting on the launch of helpline, Chairperson, Jindal Stainless Foundation chairperson Deepika Jindal said, “Domestic violence is not confined to rural or urban women. We need to work on this agenda together – as a society, as responsible citizens and as protectors of the state machinery. In spite of strict legislation, women continue to suffer due to lack of knowledge and the dearth of access to these avenues. We are happy to partner with The Women of Element Trust for this initiative and we believe that together we will bring about great relief to many who suffer silently in their homes.”
Project Stainless Aashiyana is a means to provide women and children a safe space to reach out and share their incidents with counsellors who can empower them. The helpline will not only provide legal counsel to victims, but also explain various avenues and recourses available to them for individual cases.
As per data estimates from National Commission for Women, India witnessed a spike in domestic violence cases with the onset of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, between March 25 and May 31, 1,477 complaints were recorded which is more than those received in the previous 10 years. In many cases, victims do not even report such abuses due to the social stigma or pressure of bringing the court or police in to the house.
Jindal Stainless Foundation and The Women of Elements Trust will publicise the information of the helpline initiative through various stakeholders like Police Authorities, lawyers at the Crime Against Women Cells of Delhi Police, to make sure that victims can get immediate help.
