A woman facing violence or a family dispute may need several kinds of help at once. Someone to hear what has happened. An explanation of her options. A connection to legal or police support. One conversation cannot do all of that, but it can be a beginning.
Meera Sansthan has provided family counselling in Jodhpur since 2001. Its Mahila Suraksha evam Salah Kendras, operated under the Rajasthan government’s scheme since 2011, bring counselling, legal guidance, emotional support, crisis intervention and referrals together.
Support has to fit the situation
Women approach the centres about violence, harassment, exploitation and family disputes. These are different situations, and they call for different responses. Counselling and mediation are part of the work; so is helping women reach legal and police services.
The project records report 6,564 cases resolved through counselling, mediation and settlement, and 1,282 women supported with legal action and crisis relief. These figures describe years of work. They do not make every case the same, or tell the whole story of what happened afterwards.
What the centres provide is practical support through a difficult process. For someone who has been trying to work out where to turn, knowing whom to speak to and what can happen next matters.
Based on Meera Sansthan’s project records and official impact figures. No individual counselling case or survivor account is presented here.
Read about the women’s support centres