Violence against women (VAW) in India is very high at 35.1 per cent. The latest National Family Health – 4 Survey in Telangana shows that 43/100 women experienced spousal violence and 5.9 per cent of them faced the trauma during pregnancy. Violence continues to be the biggest cause of injury, even leading to death, for women between 18 and 45 years.
Reports say one in three women experienced physical/sexual violence in their lifetime. Besides, sexual violence leading to unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortions, neglected pregnancies sans proper antenatal care contributed to a major chunk of maternal mortality and near miss mortality especially in India.
At a national conference on Fertility Regulation and Women’s Health here on Saturday, an initiative to raise awareness and stop violence against women – DHEERA, was launched here by the Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society of Hyderabad (OGSH) on Saturday.
A cyclathon was flagged off and hundreds of orange balloons were released.Flagging off the cyclathon, ICOG Secretary Dr. Shantha Kumar said Saturday’s initiative by several organisations working to prevent VAW was a significant step. Other eminent personalities present were Chairpersons, Lalitha Kumaramangalam (National Commission for Women), and Tripurana Venkataratnam (Women's Commission, Hyderabad Telangana, Additional Commissioner of Police, Swati Lakra.
