The role of the Support Person in Bharosa Centres is critical in cases where the survivor is a child as defined under POCSO Act 2012. The Support Person also assists survivors of Rape in addition to POCSO survivors.
Under the POCSO Act 2012 “From the point of registering an FIR/complaint under the POCSO Act, the victim and their family are required to interact with the police machinery, medical officers and hospitals, the Magistrate, Special Court and/or Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), the concerned Child Welfare Committee (CWC), and other stakeholders – which in itself can be daunting and overwhelming (over and above the already traumatic experience of the crime itself), often dissuading them from pursuing the case altogether.”
Noticing this need for support at various stages, the role of a ‘support person’ was institutionalised in the POCSO Rules, 2020, to provide information, emotional and psychological support, and practical assistance which are often crucial to the recovery.
