Appoint women in national Commissions: WPC

A national women's body has sought the appointment of women in the national Commissions to deal with human rights violations against women.
Women Power Connect (WPC), a coalition of nearly 1,400 women's organisations and individuals, in a statement today, stressed on the need for a strong and fearless chairperson to head the National Commission for Women to protect and further the cause of women.
It also demanded the need for a strong woman Lokpal to strengthen democracy and also welcomed the President's speech and the government's decision to prioritise a zero tolerance policy with regards to violence against women and the commitment to reserve 33 per cent seats for women in Parliament and legislative Assemblies.

"It is the need of the hour," said Dr Ranjana Kumari, Chairperson, Women Power Connect, and Director, Centre for Social Research.
"We tend to think that where laws are in place, there is a lower possibility of violence against women. However, such is not the case. Almost 90 per cent of women still feel unsafe in our country and we should have stringent laws implementing machinery in place to reduce violence against women," Kumari said.
Asking government to focus on health, education, security and political participation of women, WPC said planning for women empowerment can be done best only by a dedicated woman member and sought appointment of a woman member in the Planning Commission.

"There is a need to set up an implementation machinery to help and protect women victims of sexual violence. One-stop protection centres for violence against women should be set up in all the violence prone districts of our country," the organisation demanded.