Arunachal Pradesh: Raising Awareness on Domestic Violence; A Step Towards Empowerment

KAYI PANYOR: The state women's commission for Arunachal Pradesh recently launched a new initiative to tackle domestic violence, stressing the critical need to reach grassroots levels for public awareness about the devastating consequences of domestic violence.

"We have been working consistently to ensure grassroots-level impact in this regard," said Chairperson Kenjum Pakam of the commission.

The awareness program was organized by the Opu Aama Society in a village in the Kayi Panyor district and APSCW is its sponsoring agency. Speaking at the program, Pakam talked to the villagers about how widespread domestic violence would be catastrophic in rural settings also because of traditionalism sometimes avoiding open discussion.

She called for attention to the urgency of the issue as it entails it to be a social problem not only directly affecting the direct victims but the community at large. She, in her speech, emphasized the need for acting together to ensure the societies' existence without violence, thus families would live without all these threats of violence.

It furthermore emphasized that knowledge and prevention as the best medicine for creating healthy relationships and strong communities.

Ms. Maya Pulu, of the APSCW also addressed the audience: How Psychosocial Domestic Violence Affects Women She claimed that generally, psychological abuse has quite a lot of emotional distress and trauma; therefore, there's always a need to refer to psychological well-being regarding the issue of eliminating the vice. According to her, mental health care will be required for the victims to recover and regain control over their lives.

It was further enlightened by a comprehensive presentation by Advocate Tame Achum, detailing the legal aspects of domestic violence.

Achum spoke on different legal structures meant to protect victims and government initiatives to prevent domestic abuse. She hence educated the community on the rights of the victim and the avenues open to them, empowered the audience to know how to get help and what they should do if they or someone known is suffering from abuse. The community fully participated in the session by asking questions and stating concerns.

This interaction was a fundamental desire to understand the complexities of domestic violence and ways to address it on a community level. The purpose of this event was to ensure it would be safe for the victims and encourage them to step forward and ask for help. By providing information and support, the organizers are hoping to break the silence that has been cast around domestic violence and build a network of people who will stand against abuse.

This step of creating awareness is needed to empower communities in Arunachal Pradesh towards recognition and combating domestic violence. APSCW and its team strive to influence society so that tolerance of domestic violence will be decreased, and facilitation for victims in terms of support and justice can be easily ensured.

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