Shillong, Feb. 9: The National Commission for Women has convened a meeting here on February 18 to discuss the rise in crime against women in the Northeast.
The meeting will help to frame effective policies and empower law enforcing agencies to deal with the alarming rise in crime against women and children, a member of the commission, Wansuk Syiem, said over phone from Delhi.
Syiem said the governments of the region should deal with the issues of crime against women and children urgently.
Syiem said compared to previous years, there was a sharp rise in crime against women in Meghalaya, Manipur and Assam.
According to the National Commission for Women, while rape and murder of women and children had shot up in Meghalaya, in Assam and Manipur they also suffered because of insurgency.
Syiem said the meet would discuss topics like the need to arrest the growing trend of violence against women, trafficking of women and children, women’s legal rights, women’s role in politics, empowerment of women’s self-help groups and socio-economic uplift of women.
The functionaries of state commissions for women, representing all the northeastern states, are expected to take part in the meet. Experts on women’s issues and lawyers will be the resource persons. Representatives from the National Commission for Women will provide inputs on issues related to protection of women.
The meet will highlight the legal aide the victims can avail to ameliorate their sufferings.
Several NGOs feel that women’s rights are often violated in the Northeast and rapists and murders often go scot-free.
Admitting that crime against women had assumed alarming proportions in Meghalaya, a home department official today said the government had set up women police stations in the state last year to check the trend and help the victims.
