KD Singh Foundation is Gurugram based, and was established in the year 2013 to lend a helping hand to women in distress.
India has emerged as a global leader in many sectors, however, the statistics for women’s safety present a bleak picture. This rather touchy topic has been a matter of debate for a long time. Every year the newspapers are filled with horrendous news of women being raped and abused and sadly the number is increasing every year.
Even though the picture presented is discouraging, there are still organizations that are fighting for the rights of women and empowering them to fight for their rights. KD Singh Foundation, which is Gurugram based, was established in the year 2013 to lend a helping hand to women in distress. Founder, Dr. KD Singh MP, Rajya Sabha, established this foundation to provide medical, legal, and rehabilitative help to abused women.
KD Singh mentions “there is a great need for women’s safety, through this foundation we want to provide all the help we can to women who have suffered and find themselves helpless.”
According to the statistics presented by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), the number of crimes against women in Delhi is the highest. A large chunk of these crimes is perpetrated by the husband and relatives. Other top crimes include assaulting women with intent to outrage her modesty and dowry killings among many others. Another thing to note is the fact that in almost all the cases of violence women suffer mentally even after the crime.
The psychological effects of these crimes have been far more devastating than one can imagine. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety are most commonly found in such victims. The KD Singh Foundation, therefore, aims to provide recuperative psychological support throughout this tough journey to healing. The foundation also runs a 24*7 helpline number 1800-200-2056 for women in distress.
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KD Singh Foundation has helped 100 plus rape survivors by giving them free of cost legal representation, vocational training, medical care, and education. Youth counselling Centre is yet another endeavour of the foundation where they are providing educational support to underprivileged students in Haryana. Illiteracy coupled with a dearth of good education is the root cause of any evil. Therefore Free and world-class education along with video-based education is being imparted in rural India in Collaboration with the US-based Khan Academy. The foundation has also provided scholarships to women from less privileged backgrounds.
Gender-based violence aims at maintaining gender inequalities as the violence is perpetrated based on sex. It is common throughout different cultures. Female genital mutilation, commercial sexual exploitation, domestic abuse, rape, etc are some of the crimes that point toward gender-based violence. Violence is an intricate issue, even though we relate it to physical harm, it can be done without even touching anyone. Sometimes it is psychological and leaves the victim feeling inadequate, emotionally damaged, helpless and fearful.
A person who has suffered these crimes also has a tough time getting back to their normal lives. Dr KD Singh states “it is important that we not only help the victims but try to educate men as well. Focusing only on women may lead to victim blaming, therefore it is important to educate men and the society as a whole”.
We as a society can do a lot to ensure that such crimes are thwarted and in case something like this happens, we provide a safe and thriving environment to the survivors.
Some of the things that we can do are to start a dialogue about such things and learn more about the signs of abuse. We should also be aware of the laws the government has enforced for the safety of women. Dowry prohibition act 1961, The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, Special Marriage Act, 1954, Indian Divorce Act, 1969, Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, Indecent Representation of Women (Prevention) Act, 1986- are some of the laws that every man and woman should be aware of. Dr. K.D Singh explains that knowledge is power and every woman should be aware of the laws laid by the government. Only then can she recognize and fight abuse.
