The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has taken several initiatives funded by the Nirbhaya Fund to enhance the safety and security of women in the country.

In a statement on the International Women’s Day today, MHA said a separate Women Safety Division has been set up in the MHA to sensitize States and Union Territories on women safety related issues, including timely completion of investigation of sexual assault cases.

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Taking a tough stand against the heinous incidents of sexual assaults, the Government had made the punishment of rape more stringent through the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2018.

To ensure that the amendments in the law effectively translate at ground level, various initiatives have been taken by MHA and their progress was continuously monitored.

These include the Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences, National Database of Sexual Offenders”, Crime Multi-Agency Center and New citizen Services.

These IT initiatives help in timely and effective investigation. Home Minister Amit Shah has strongly recommended the effective use of these online tools to all the States/UTs, MHA said.

The Delhi Police has recruited Social Workers and Counsellors in Police Stations and Sub-Division level offices to encourage women to step up and report crimes without fear or restraint.

The Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences is an online analytical tool launched to monitor and track timely compeletion of police investigations in sexual assault cases (currently two months as per Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018).

The National Database of Sexual Offenders” (NDSO) has been launched to identify repeat offenders and receive alerts on sex offenders, as also in the investigation. The Crime Multi Agency Center (Cri-MAC) has been introduced on 12 March 2020 for police stations and higher offices in all States/UTs to share information on heinous crimes and other issues related to coordination in cases of inter-state crime.

It can be used to send alerts or related information on crime and inter-state criminals to the States/UTs via an email/SMS, MHA said.

Projects funded by Nirbhaya Fund are also being fasttracked by MHA to enhance the safety and security of women.