An NGO has started working on combating gender-based violence (GBV) and mainstreaming its women victims in Jharkhand.

The organisation, Transform Rural India (TRI), in association with Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), also planned to provide a livelihood to such women by helping them to form self-help groups for engaging them in income generation activities.

"We already organised a state-level consultative workshop in Ranchi last Wednesday to discuss various aspects of the programme," Seema Bhaskaran, gender lead at TRI, informed The Telegraph, adding it was attended by representatives of various NGOs, community leaders, resource persons and officials from concerned government departments, numbering over a hundred.

She further said it focused on combating GBV through multi-stakeholder engagement, adding there was a need for developing an institutional mechanism for implementing strategies to achieve effective interventions.

"There are various forms of gender-based violence and its impact on the victims at different stages of their lives," Bhaskaran further said, adding not many GBV cases were reported due to prevailing social and cultural barriers.

The victims should be encouraged to report such cases and supported to help them live a dignified life, she said, adding that could be done by developing a robust institutional mechanism that would, in turn, ensure a strong, safe and accessible redressal system.

"This is possible when there is a convergence of various government departments and agencies," Bhaskaran opined, adding Jharkhand rural development secretary Chandra Sekhar, who addressed the workshop, had assured of help as the state government favoured a gender-just society.

Besides officials from the women and child development department, Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority and JSLPS, others like those from the police, education, health and rural development departments need to work in tandem to provide justice and support to GBV survivors, she elaborated.

"We already run a Lakhpati Didi programme in the state that can also accommodate these survivors to engage them in income generation activities," Bhaskaran said.