By Dr Shobha Vijender*
There is a drive to give men and women equal status. Girl education has received a big boost. Marital trends are changing. Now, alongside their male counterparts, women are touching new heights. The sky is the limit for them. They are earning well and becoming independent with broad mindsets. Globalisation and cosmopolitan culture have peeped into every household through social media. With time, the subculture has started to spread its wings everywhere.
However, in many cases, this smooth journey towards empowerment takes a rough turn after marriage. Marriage is a big part of life and deeply affects both the man and the woman. At the present time, cases of strained relationships between a couple are increasing in huge numbers.
This could be contributed to two prominent reasons:
- Male ego and his mindset show no change while dealing with the wife
- Women born and brought up with equal status are less likely to adjust
Thus, after marriage the couple is more likely to quarrel and, in many cases, they end up getting separated or divorced. Though women are empowered, they end up being in a sorry state due to their unhappy marriage.
The Family Counselling Centres (FCCs) are there to solve such cases and save families from breaking through counselling. We at Sampurna NGO too are running the Family Counselling Centre since 2004 in Delhi. The objective is to solve the conflict through better communication between both parties. It is a platform for a couple to complain about their problems and to find out the best possible solutions with proper guidance from the Counsellors.
During this long journey, we have witnessed the cases of violence, abuse and violations being committed – not only by the husband but sometimes his entire family is involved too. They inflict violence on a helpless woman whom they consider an outsider. The Family Counselling Centre as a third agency is a useful tool to address those victims. It is the saviour of many families who are on the verge of breaking.
Our counsellors deal with cases of domestic violence, extramarital affairs, drug addiction and alcoholism within the families, sibling rivalry, children and parent conflicts etc. The counsellor tries her best to avoid the case from going to court or filing an FIR. Up until now, over 2,500 cases have been handled in the Sampurna FCC.
The people that come to the FCC belong to varied backgrounds. Most of the time, the person is a woman coming from a disadvantaged background with no awareness of her own rights and almost no means of availing of any help. The counsellors work hard without prejudice to bring her relief. They help her all the way, sharing her pain and helping her to deal with her situation. It is a long process where not only the person but their families also get involved. With the efforts and guidance of the FCC counsellor, the root cause of the conflict can be resolved along with other small problems.
We work in close collaboration with local administration, police, courts, medical and psychiatric institutions, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA), The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights(DCPCR) etc to provide the best possible assistance to the aggrieved persons.
Through this article, we want to reach out to any woman who is in a difficult situation and feeling melancholy or depressed. Given the rifts that are caused in marriage in today’s time, women, and sometimes men too, are suffering. we are there to help the women as it is the need of the time. Women might reach out to friends and family about the tough situation they are in but they might make the situation worse due to their lack of understanding about it. We encourage the women to reach out to us so that knowledgeable and experienced counsellors can help them with their situation. Let’s come forward, inform and communicate. The solution lies within reach if you wish to find it. Sampurna is there for you in any crisis situation.
*Dr Shobha Vijender is the founder and president of Sampurna NGO established in 1993. Having done her Doctorate in Social Work, she believes that timely education and counselling are indispensable for a better marital life.
Mam you are doing a really a good job for society appreciable . God bless you
You are doing well Shobha my heartiest congratulations to you
First five years of child upbringing has an very important role to the outcome of behaviour of it in adulthood, as in hotel we meet other people eating food and we also leave after having food , so is our destiny we meet people as our karmas are intevined together, the solutions which we can’t reach out the almighty God will be providing by angles of the God. One angle is Sampurna, it’s ok still this is run by some like minded people.