Incapacity Rights Organisations, Activists Write to Amit Shah, Ask that NCRB Maintains ‘Disaggregated Information’ on Violence In opposition to Disabled Girls

Ninety-two disability rights organizations, activists and affected citizens wrote to the Union’s Interior Minister Amit Shah on January 20, saying they were “dismayed” that the National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB) did not have “disaggregated data” on violence against disabled women leads.

The letter stated that many of the organizations and activists had followed up the issue with various ministries – including the Ministry of Women’s and Child Development and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment – and departments such as the National Women’s Commission.

“Unfortunately we are not yet seeing any positive development in the direction of his fertility,” the letter says.

The activists mentioned that the United Nations committee, which oversaw the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in September 2019, had recommended to the Indian government: “Make sure the National Crime Records Bureau is after Collects gender disaggregated data. Age, place of residence, relationship with the perpetrator and disability in the case of violence and exploitation, including gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities and violence by intimate partners. “

They added that in an advisory opinion issued on September 28, 2020 – during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic – the National Human Rights Commission had recommended that the NCRB also keep data on PwDs.

“Maintaining such data will enable policymakers in particular and other stakeholders in general to formulate strategies and mechanisms to respond to their particular needs that may be accessible to disabled people and to facilitate access to the criminal justice system, among other things,” it says in the letter.

A 2014 report by Rashida Manjoo, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, mentioned the lack of disaggregated data that “make violence against women with disabilities invisible”.

“This problem becomes even more pressing as more and more cases of sexual assault against girls / women with disabilities occur. We note that there was no rest even during the pandemic. On the contrary, we find that their numbers have increased and the ferocity and brutality of the victims / survivors has escalated, ”said the activists.

The letter noted that in many cases, “the perpetrators are trying to maim the survivors in order to further impair their ability to get through an already inaccessible criminal justice system”. she quoted the case of a girl from Bihars Madhubani, where the perpetrators tried to damage the eyes of a girl with hearing and speech impairments after being raped.

They said it was “against logic” why the NCRB, a national repository of crime data, did not maintain such data. A request on the Right to Information (RTI) in 2020 revealed that such data was not available and that “the police are a state subject within the meaning of the 7th timetable of the Indian Constitution. Therefore, it is recommended that you obtain the information directly from the relevant state / UT. “

“For this reason, NCRB shouldn’t collect data for most crimes, as law and order is a government issue!” her letter said.

The activists called on the Home Secretary to issue orders to ensure that the NCRB retains data that includes, among other things, “gender, age, place of residence, relationship with the perpetrator and disability in cases of violence and exploitation, including gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities and violence by intimate partners.