NCW Chief Flags Delays In Victim Compensation, Weak POSH Implementation At South Zone Justice Conference

National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar, speaking at the inaugural session of the first South Zone Regional Conference on "Justice for Women," organised by the NCW in association with the Karnataka High Court and the Karnataka Judicial Academy, flagged deep gaps in the justice delivery system for women, pointing to delayed victim compensation, poor implementation of workplace safety laws, and the continuing practice of pressuring survivors to "compromise" in non-compoundable offences, even as courts have repeatedly held such settlements impermissible.

Citing National Crime Records Bureau data to underline the scale of the problem, Rahatkar noted that 2023 alone saw 4,48,211 reported crimes against women, translating to "roughly 51 complaints every hour across the country."

Rahatkar said the numbers pointed to challenges beyond mere prevention. "This tells us that the challenge is not limited to preventing crime. It is also concerned with the quality of investigation, the effectiveness of prosecution and the support available to a victim at every stage of the justice process," she said.

On victim compensation, she pointed to NALSA's 2024-25 figures showing only around 27,000 applications decided nationwide, with over 14,000 applications still pending, calling implementation of compensation schemes "uneven across states."

She also raised concern over attempts to settle serious offences despite courts making clear that such cases are not compoundable and that survivors "cannot be persuaded or pressurized to withdraw." Illustrating the risks of insensitive judicial language, Rahatkar referred to a case in which a High Court had held, at the charge-framing stage, that grabbing a minor girl's breast and breaking the string of her pyjama did not amount to attempted rape. She noted that the Supreme Court had since set aside that view, and that an expert committee headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice Aniruddha Bose had recommended avoiding terminology that could cause secondary trauma to survivors of sexual assault.

Turning to workplace safety, Rahatkar questioned why implementation of the POSH Act remained weak twelve years after it came into force. "Internal committees and local committees are still not constituted at many places, particularly outside government institutes and the unorganized sector," she said, adding that even where such committees exist, many members lack proper legal or procedural training. She noted the Commission had conducted over 160 training sessions for Local Committees this year alone.

Rahatkar also spoke on family courts, noting that the Family Courts Act, 1984 requires reconciliation efforts and trained counsellors who can recognise "when a marriage is unsafe to preserve." She said the NCW's premarital counselling initiative now runs around 60 centres across 11 states, helping couples discuss expectations, responsibilities and communication before marriage.

Listing recommendations before the gathering of judges, mediators and practitioners from southern states, Rahatkar called for time-bound trials in rape, POCSO and domestic violence cases, standardised timelines for compensation payouts, gender-sensitive judicial handling to avoid repeated testimony and secondary victimisation, protection of survivor confidentiality, suo motu interim compensation by district courts in heinous offences, mandatory premarital counselling before marriage registration, and capacity building for judges on emerging digital offences. She said the NCW was ready to support courts on all these fronts, and suggested that in cases involving significant questions of women's rights and safety, courts may consider appointing the Commission as amicus curiae.

She also outlined the Commission's broader outreach, including over 2,200 awareness and legal sensitisation programmes reaching around 1.75 lakh participants over the last three years, the Campus Calling initiative covering roughly 1.10 lakh students across the country, and the "Yashoda AI" digital literacy programme for women launched in May 2025 to build cyber safety and digital privacy awareness.

Concluding her address, Rahatkar said her hope was that participants would carry back "not only notes from these sessions but also a quiet and firm resolution to close the gap between what our laws promise and what women actually experience." 

Event Name: South Zone Regional Conference on "Justice for Women"

Event Date: August 8-9, 2026