New Delhi, Adequate sensitisation of police personnel to avoid any moral judgement and victim-shaming of survivors of gender-based violence when they visit police stations and regular patrolling at crime hotspots are among a slew of recommendations issued by the NHRC to several government authorities.
It is recommended that police personnel be adequately sensitised to avoid making moral judgements and victim-shaming. The NHRC has also recommended developing time-bound response standards for helplines and police arrival in case of violence in public spaces. It is recommended to take steps to display targeted posters/ flyers and other informational material in public spaces and the workplace to inform women what constitutes harassment, their legal rights, as well as all the emergency numbers and existing mechanisms such as the Sexual Harassment Electronic Box portal for reporting the crime.
As of December 2025, 14,658 out of 16,109 police stations in the country have a Women’s Help Desk , and it is recommended that steps may be taken to ensure that the remaining police stations also have a functional women’s help desk to assist women in distress, the advisory says.
Under the fourth point of the recommendations sub-titled ‘Role of the Police’, it says, “Survivors of gender-based violence often report facing resistance and moral policing in police stations when they try to register their complaints. “Police officers may undertake regular patrolling, especially in places that are deserted during the night and/ or are crime hotspots,” it adds. A major issue around the topic of women’s safety is the lack of awareness regarding what constitutes sexual harassment and what needs to be done when such an incident has happened, the rights panel says in the advisory.
