Mamatha Raghuveer Achanta

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Dr. Mamatha Raghuveer Achanta
Born
Mamatha Achanta

(1967-12-19) 19 December 1967 (age 56)
Nalgonda, Telangana, India
NationalityIndian
OccupationActivist
Known forActivism for children's rights and work against child marriages
Website mamatharaghuveer.in

Mamatha Raghuveer Achanta (born 19 December 1967) is a women's and children's rights activist. [1] [2] [3] She has served as chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, Warangal District, as a member of the A.P. State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] and as the founder and executive director of Tharuni, [10] a non-government organization (NGO) [11] [12] that focuses on the empowerment of girls and women. [13] She has participated in rescues and adjudicated issues such as exploitation, violence, child sexual abuse, [14] child marriages, [11] [12] [15] [16] and child neglect.

Contents

Work against child marriages

Dr. Mamatha Raghuveer Achanta formed Balika Sanghas (Girls’ Collectives/Girl Child Clubs), to empower girls aged between 14 and 18 years using multiple approaches such as savings schemes, awareness-building programmes, and vocational training, to raise the self-worth of their members, and specifically to stop child marriages in Warangal good District. [16]

Dr. Mamatha founded Network of International Legal Activists (NILA) in 2015 which works for the protection of the rights of women and children globally. NILA's Mission is to help women and children get access to speedy justice through legal aid and counseling. It helps them become aware of the law and protects their rights by offering victim assistance services. [17] This network aspires to bring together legal activists to ensure that the human rights of vulnerable groups that are subjected to marginalization, such as women and children, are addressed in the context of crime prevention and criminal justice reform. The network is international in scope to make justice accessible to all, which is especially necessary due to the migration of women and children from one part of the world to another. NILA aims to increase the access to judicial and other legal mechanisms, extend assistance to victims by ensuring legal counseling and aid, offer physical and psychological support and therapy, and create an environment for their rehabilitation.

NILA has taken up 45 cases from five countries and helped the women through legal aid and counseling. NILA filed two Public Interest Litigation (PIL) cases with Lokayukta of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh related to child deaths in academic institutions due to the negligence of management and unnecessary surgeries performed on women and children aversely affecting their health. [18]

NILA along with Save the Children organized a conference to review the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Bill. It was held on Sep. 15, 2015 at ASCI, Banjarahills Campus, Hyd from 11 AM to 2 PM. The Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Sri Bandaru Dattatreya, was the Chief Guest and the Minister for Home and Labour, Employment and Training, Telanagna Sri Nayani Narsimha Reddy, was the Guest of Honour. [19]

BHAROSA - Support Center For Women & Children (An Initiative of Telangana Police)

Dr. Mamatha is the Technical Partner to BHAROSA - Support Center For Women & Children [20] which is an initiative of the Telangana Police. She has conceptualized this unique initiative along with Ms. Swati Lakra IPS to help the victims of violence, both women and children. For the past 8 years, Dr. Mamatha has been giving her voluntary services to Bharosa and doing the hand holding for the center. Bharosa provides integrated services, like trauma counseling, to the victims and legal, medical, police and prosecution help, all under one roof. The victim need not go to court as there is a video conferencing facility in Bharosa for both evidence recording and trial procedure. This one of its kind center in India has a special child friendly counseling facility to record the statements of child abuse victims.[ citation needed ]

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References

  1. ↑ "New Body Formed to Protect Women's Rights". The Hans India. 7 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Conflict fuels child labour in India". South Asia Post. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  3. ↑ ""Bikeathon" to save girl child today". The Siasat Daily. 10 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "National Commission for Protection of Child Rights". Ncpcr.gov.in.
  5. ↑ "Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act". Delhi.gov.in. 28 September 2015. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Graveyard is Home for forty Yrs for 300 Families". The New Indian Express. 27 June 2014. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Kids in Nellore play with human skulls". Deccanchronicle.com. 27 June 2014.
  8. ↑ "Media coverage on child rights issues dismal: study". The Hindu. 24 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "6th UNICEF Awards" (PDF). Cmsindia.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "NRI Samay - Tharuni.Org Empowering Adolescent Girls for over a decade - Dr Achanta Mamatha Raghuveer". citymirchi.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Maternal Healthcare Evades Marginalised Mothers | Inter Press Service". Ipsnews.net. 28 May 2013.
  12. 1 2 Paul, Stella (28 May 2013). "Maternal Healthcare Evades Marginalised Mothers — Global Issues". Globalissues.org.
  13. ↑ "'To be born a girl is still looked at as a curse'". The Hindu. 7 February 2012.
  14. ↑ "Hyderabad: School under scanner for sexual abuse of students". IBNLive. 1 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "SHAHEEN WOMEN´S RESOURCE AND WELFARE ASSOCIATION" (PDF). Shaheencollective.org. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  16. 1 2 "KCCI / 2008 - 04 : Championing Gender Issues : A case study of Balika Sanghas in Warangal and Kurnool" (PDF). Kcci.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  17. ↑ Staff Reporter. "'Create awareness on women and child rights'". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  18. ↑ "NILA filed a PIL in Lokayukta, Hyderabad on Child Deaths in Academic Institutions". NILA. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  19. ↑ "Govt chalks out plans to check child labour". The Hans India. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  20. ↑ "UN Women team lauds work of Bharosa centre, She Teams | The Siasat Daily". www.siasat.com. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
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