Paralegal Programme

In West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, the proportion of SC and ST population is around 1 million, which is 25% of the total population in the district. According to NCRB, in the year 2015, Vijayawada city (1,031 cases) & West Godavari (883 cases) of Andhra Pradesh has reported the highest incidence of crimes against SCs compared to any other police district in the country. It has been extremely essential to bring awareness among these communities about their rights and providing legal/paralegal support to seek justice.


Paralegal Support

Legal Awareness Camps

Hotline support

Counselling

Project Activities

  • Liaison with the police to identify atrocity prone areas in surrounding villages and towns. This is mainly to identify areas with high potential of atrocities against minorities.
  • Bring together lawyers with leaning towards human rights and minority groups to form a pool of legal experts. The cohort of legal advice will aid and guide take lead in the project through presiding over village meetings and workshops.
  • Design youth-based programmes to develop a community of Paralegals. We potentially will identify these Paralegals who are either unemployed youth or Dalit Christians pursuing legal studies in urban areas.
  • Conduct information and behaviour change campaigns to sensitise about rights in the minority communities. We will carry out our campaigns covering around 20-25 villages and 5 city slums.
  • Identify victims of atrocities and help them seek legal advice from the legal experts in minority rights. Establish a voice helpline so that Dalit minority victims can seek legal and paralegal advice.
  • Provide counselling to victims to overcome the trauma and distress and to achieve normalcy in their lives. A counsellor with ample training in psychology along with human-rights leaning will carry out this process throughout the duration of the project.