Urgent need for mandatory immunity for victims in India, says SAHRDC director Ravi Nair

Follow us on

Speaking on study of the victims of crime and the psychological effects of their experience in India, Ravi Nair, Executive Director of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC), on Wednesday said that there is an urgent need for mandatory implementation of compensation and official immunity to facilitate victim aid in the country.

Terming victimology in India as the curious osmosis of a state-centric and more citizen-focused science, Nair has called for developing improved methods for relief to victims in the country. We need to take to take a cue from Indonesia in implementing mandatory compensation and official immunity in a bid to facilitate victim aid in the country, Nair said at the 8th International Conference on Victim Assistance held at the Jindal Global University in Sonipat, Haryana on October 21 and 22.

The two-day conference deliberated extensively on the multiple issues around Victims assistance: Victims' Rights and the Criminal Justice System, Violence within Family, Sex, Gender and Sexuality, Role of NGOs, Violence Against Women and Children, Media and Cyber Victimisation, Human Trafficking and Victimisation of Immigrants.

"We organise this conference every year and have reached its 8th edition. We have seen increased interest as never before this year with more than 550 registrations and about 250 abstracts for presentation," Professor Sanjeev P. Sahni, Principal Director, JIBS, said in a statement. Sahni also proposed joint workshops to be held by JIBS on Victim Assistance where students can participate with other delegates related to the criminal justice system.

The main theme of workshop will discuss and provide resolution towards victim assistance. In a session on ‘Victim Assistance', P.M. Nair, Chairperson, Centre of Excellence and Centre of Research and Learning (CORAL) highlighted the main hindrances in criminal justice system.

We go by the number of trafficking and the number of rescues done by the NGOs, but there is history of rescuing the same victim from different places in different times, which reflect the inefficiency and increased vulnerability. Forty papers were presented by eminent behavioural scientists and ‘Victimology and Psychological Studies' scholars from across the globe.Over 100 delegates from different universities from various countries participated in the conference.

ALSO READ| From herbal route to sound sleep, here are ways to boost immunity in children