Savali Kendra – Support and
Counselling Centre
(2004 – ongoing)
Support services for women survivors of gender-based violence, crucial to the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Initiative, led to the establishment of the ‘Savali Counselling Centre’ (Saval, a Marathi word means ‘shade’ or ‘respite’). Its counselling aims to empower violence survivors as well as perpetrators, and family members to foster healthier, violence-free relationships. The Centre provides emotional support and referrals to essential resources such as shelter, legal, medical, and financial aid. Collaborating with local authorities and stakeholders ensures women are informed and can assert their rights effectively.
In a patriarchal society like ours, support services for women survivors of gender-based violence are vital to any Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Initiative. In response to this reality the ‘Savali Counselling Centre’ was established. It is located at the HMF’s Campus at Andur and serves the nearby villages of the Dharashiv (Osmanabad) and Solapur talukas.
Services
The Centre provides psycho-social support and counselling to the women violence survivors. It is equipped with trained counsellors who provide emotional and empathetic support essential for healing. They also assess the support system available to the counselee; the social, psychological and mental health status and refer them to available resource services as needed, such as, ‘One Stop Centres’ (run under the government’s scheme), shelter services, legal services, medical and psychiatric experts, financial aid, and more.
Furthermore, through strategic collaboration with local law enforcement and judicial authorities, government officials, and other local stakeholders such as the village-based ‘Conflict Resolution Committees’, it strives to ensure that women are fully informed about their rights and are able to exercise them.
Savali Counselling Centre: Empowering DV survivors, perpetrators, and families for violence-free relationships
Highlights of Savali Centre:
Experienced Counsellors:
Trained in providing comprehensive support.
Proactive Outreach to DV survivors:
Through HMF’s field workers and community
Safety Priority:
To ensure the safety of domestic violence survivors.
Comprehensive Counselling:
For survivors, perpetrators, and family members
Resource network:
Including shelters, legal, medical, and financial aid.
Referral Channels:
Seeks referrals to the Centre through village-level meetings, press releases, HMF field workers, community-level volunteers, and the collaborative network.
Client referrals:
Referrals from previous counselees
Follow-ups:
Integral part of the counselling services.
Field-level Support:
Doorstep assistance through volunteers and support groups, especially useful to help women in crisis
Collaborative network:
With police, government officials, One Stop Centres and village stakeholders.
Community Training:
Equips women’s groups with community-level women’s groups with essential support skills to provide immediate help
Outcome focus:
Reconciliation only if it assures woman’s safety, conflict resolution through out-of-court settlements, legal action, rehabilitation for self-reliance (including financial aid).
Highlights of Savali Centre
Proactive Outreach to DV survivors: Through HMF’s field workers and community volunteers.
Reach, Referrals, Outcome
- In the five years 2019 to 2023, 248 women approached the Centre for help.
- In 96 cases, women were referred for legal action
- 10 were referred to the police and protection officers appointed under the DV Act
- 216 cases were resolved at the Centre
Testimonies
Counsellors Ms. Vasanti Mule and Ms. Nagini Survase explain….
It is only when domestic violence escalates beyond endurance, that women seek help of the Savali Centre. Assuring confidentiality, providing emotional support we assess the severity of the violence and identify the root cause. We address immediate needs, including referral services such as shelter, medical etc., if required. Together with the woman, we explore ways to improve her situation. It takes time for women to gather the courage and take steps toward resolving their problems, and the counselling process continues………
Financial partner:
Several institutions have supported the functioning of the Savali Centre –
- The Ford Foundation was the first to provide grant for setting up the Centre in 2004.
- It received recognition as a ‘Family Counselling Centre’ under the Maharashtra Women’s Commission. Financial support in the form of honorarium for one counsellor was provided through the District ICDS from 2003 to 2017.
- SWISSAID, India supported the Centre as part of its Gender Equality and Domestic Violence projects since 2018, including survivor support funds, and is ongoing.
The One Stop Centre – Sakhi One-stop Centre (July 2019 to June 2022)
Recognised as a reputed and experienced NGO, HMF was selected to operate the Central Ministry of Women and Child Welfare’s scheme of the “One Stop Centre” for the Dharashiv (Osmanabad) district of Maharashtra. HMF operated the Centre from July 2019 to July 2022
Located within the District General Hospital, Dharashiv (previously Osmanabad) it promised the much-needed multiple services to violence survivors under one roof. These included counselling temporary shelter, police assistance medical aid and nursing services, halth mental health service, legal advice and action.
The Centre that operated 24×7, was equipped with the expertise of a family counsellor, psychologist, lawyer, social worker, nurse as well as security personnel. During the period that it operated the Centre it handled 179 cases of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault. Together with counselling, almost about 33-34 percent of cases were referred for medical treatment and for police assistance, and 24 percent for legal assistance. Publicity was done through meetings organized in villages in the Dharashiv district as well as through articles in local newspapers and magazines. Doctors from the hospital, Police and lawyers referred women to this Centre. At times, they came with their children too and sought temporary shelter at the Centre.
The Centre faced several challenges – both technical and logistic, and that made HMF decide to focus more on refining the work of the Savali Centre to include strengthening the community-support network in the villages that HMF operates in.