Telangana SHE Teams received 2,800 complaints in first six months of 2021

The SHE Teams were launched on 24 October 2014 in Hyderabad as part of Telangana government's vision of providing a safe and secure environment for women within the larger concept of friendly policing. In view of the resounding success of SHE Teams in Hyderabad, it was replicated initially in Cyberabad and thereafter in each district of Telangana from April 2015.

Out of the over 2,800 complaints received, around 1,107 were regarding harassment over the phone while 420 cases were regarding harassment through social media. Meanwhile, 218 cases pertained to teasing and misbehaving, 175 cases were regarding stalking, 38 cases of passing lewd comments, and 28 cases were regarding touching inappropriately. The SHE Teams also received 821 other complaints.

The police have registered 271 FIRs in relation to these complaints. In 625 cases, the police warned and let off the accused persons and in 363 cases the police counselled the accused. Also, 325 complaints were petty which was closed by the police and 1,048 complaints were closed for some other reasons. Another 171 complaints are pending with the police.

Most of the complaints were registered by women in the age group of 19-24 years. They registered around 489 complaints. Meanwhile, 442 complaints were by women in the age group of 25-35 years and around 123 complaints were by minors below the age of 18 years.

In January 2020, the women safety wing had launched a WhatsApp number (9441669988) for the state SHE Team which is a non-emergency number where a victim from anywhere in the state can report harassment. The team at the women safety wing will forward it to the respective SHE Team unit who will follow up on the complaint.

This year, around 1,400 complaints were received on WhatsApp while 877 were received directly. Also, 128 complaints were received via email and 114 complaints were registered after the police caught the accused red-handed during their operations. The police also received nine complaints through Twitter and three through Facebook.

In 2020, the SHE Teams had received 5,072 complaints of which 2,992 were through WhatsApp, 1,565 directly, and 515 through email, Dial 100, Facebook, and Twitter. Of these, 68 per cent of the complaints were regarding phone and social media harassment.

A survey conducted by the SHE Teams had found that 89 per cent of people in Hyderabad and the surrounding areas are aware of the teams and their work. Ninety-six per cent of victims who approached the SHE Teams rated their services as 'good' and 'satisfactory' and 92 per cent of them said they did not face any problem while approaching them.