'Need for all-women police stations'

Mumbai, March 8 (IANS) Radha Sankaranarayanan, wife of Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan, Friday said opening of all-women police stations will give confidence to women to come forward and report crimes against them.

She expressed the need for sensitising the entire official machinery - from police stations to courts - for dispensing quick justice to women.

She was speaking at a seminar - 'Time for action to end violence against women' - organised by the United Nations Population Fund and the state government.

"As a woman, as a mother and as a grandmother, I feel sad, angry and at the same time helpless when I read reports of incidents of violence against women, sexual assault on small girls and even on toddlers. In some cases, the trauma of the victim ends with death. I feel benumbed," she said.

Mentioning that newer and more horrifying forms of violence against women are taking place, she called for changing the attitude of society towards women.

Minister for Public Health and Protocol Suresh Shetty and Programme Officer of the United Nations Population Fund Anuja Gulati were among those present on the occasion. - IANS