Mamatha Raghuveer Achanta (born 19 December 1967) is a women's and children's rights activist. She has served as chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, Warangal District, as a member of the A.P. State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, and as the founder and executive director of Tharuni, a non-government organization (NGO) that focuses on the empowerment of girls and women. She has participated in rescues and adjudicated issues such as exploitation, violence, child sexual abuse,

child marriages Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a m ...

, and

child neglect A form of child abuse, child neglect is an act of caregivers (e.g., parents) that results in depriving a child of their basic needs, such as the failure to provide adequate supervision, health care, clothing, or housing, as well as other physica ...

Work against child marriages

Dr. Mamatha Raghuveer Achanta formed Balika Sanghas (Girls’ Collectives/Girl Child Clubs), to empower girls aged between 14 and 18 years using multiple approaches such as savings schemes, awareness-building programmes, and vocational training, to raise the self-worth of their members, and specifically to stop child marriages in Warangal good District.

NILA (Network of International Legal Activists)

Dr. Mamatha founded Network of International Legal Activists (NILA) in 2015 which works for the protection of the rights of women and children globally. NILA's Mission is to help women and children get access to speedy justice through legal aid and counseling. It helps them become aware of the law and protects their rights by offering victim assistance services. This network aspires to bring together legal activists to ensure that the human rights of vulnerable groups that are subjected to marginalization, such as women and children, are addressed in the context of crime prevention and criminal justice reform. The network is international in scope to make justice accessible to all, which is especially necessary due to the migration of women and children from one part of the world to another. NILA aims to increase the access to judicial and other legal mechanisms, extend assistance to victims by ensuring legal counseling and aid, offer physical and psychological support and

therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

, and create an environment for their rehabilitation. NILA has taken up 45 cases from five countries and helped the women through legal aid and counseling. NILA filed two Public Interest Litigation (PIL) cases with Lokayukta of

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

related to child deaths in academic institutions due to the negligence of management and unnecessary surgeries performed on women and children aversely affecting their health. NILA along with

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

organized a conference to review the

Child Labour Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...

(Prohibition and Regulation) Bill. It was held on Sep. 15, 2015 at ASCI, Banjarahills Campus, Hyd from 11 AM to 2 PM. The Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Sri Bandaru Dattatreya, was the Chief Guest and the Minister for Home and Labour, Employment and Training, Telanagna Sri Nayani Narsimha Reddy, was the Guest of Honour.

BHAROSA - Support Center For Women & Children (An Initiative of Telangana Police)

Dr. Mamatha is the Technical Partner to BHAROSA - Support Center For Women & Children which is an initiative of the

Telangana Police The Telangana State Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the state of Telangana in India. It has jurisdiction concurrent with the 33 revenue districts of the state. The police force was created from the remnants of the Andhra Pra ...

. She has conceptualized this unique initiative along with Ms. Swati Lakra IPS to help the victims of violence, both women and children. For the past 8 years, Dr. Mamatha has been giving her voluntary services to Bharosa and doing the hand holding for the center. Bharosa provides integrated services, like

trauma counseling Grief counseling is a form of psychotherapy that aims to help people cope with the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive responses to loss. These experiences are commonly thought to be brought on by a loved person's death, but may ...

, to the victims and legal, medical, police and prosecution help, all under one roof. The victim need not go to court as there is a video conferencing facility in Bharosa for both evidence recording and trial procedure. This one of its kind center in India has a special child friendly counseling facility to record the statements of child abuse victims.

References

External links

Network of International Legal Activists (NILA)

Consultation to review the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) bill, 2012 held on 15/09/2015

“BHAROSA” – A SUPPORT CENTER FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Achanta, Mamatha Raghuveer Living people Activists from Telangana Indian women activists Indian human rights activists 1967 births