Holistic Survivor Support
Vishakha’s work to end gender-based violence is grounded in feminist values and an intersectional approach, guided by a strong gender lens. We recognise violence as shaped by patriarchy and intersecting structures of caste, class, age, ability, and social location, and place women’s and girls’ safety, dignity, autonomy, and informed choice at the centre of our work.
Our approach works across individual, collective, and systemic levels. For Vishakha, ending gender-based violence goes beyond responding to individual incidents and requires sustained engagement with communities, institutions, and state systems to strengthen accountability, access to justice, and conditions that support long-term safety and well-being
Holistic survivor support is a core intervention within Vishakha’s work on ending gender-based violence. Rooted in survivor-centred care, it responds to legal, psychosocial, health, and protection needs while respecting survivors’ choices, pace, and lived realities.
This support is grounded in care and solidarity and works alongside survivors to strengthen access to support systems, justice mechanisms, and pathways towards safety and well-being.
Our Interventions
MSSK (Mahila Salah Evam Suraksha Kedra)
Vishakha currently runs Mahila Salah Evam Suraksha Kendras (MSSKs)—holistic redressal centres for women facing violence—in Salumbar and Udaipur, in collaboration with the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Rajasthan, and the Police Department. In earlier phases of the government scheme, Vishakha also implemented MSSKs in Bikaner, Dungarpur, Hanumangarh, and Bhankrota.
Vishakha’s work with MSSKs is rooted in long-standing feminist advocacy and practice. The first holistic redressal centre was initiated at the Gandhi Nagar Mahila Thana in Jaipur by a collective of 13 women’s organisations, including Vishakha. Building on this experience, Vishakha, in collaboration with the Rajasthan Police Department, set up and ran MSSKs in 13 districts of Rajasthan between 2004 and 2011. During this period, over 13,000 women approached the centres and sought support.
This sustained demonstration of a survivor-centred and holistic model contributed to the mainstreaming of MSSKs by the Government of Rajasthan. Since 2011, the Department of Women and Child Development has expanded the intervention across all districts of the state in partnership with local non-government organisations. Vishakha also anchored the Aparajita One Stop Crisis Centre in Jaipur during 2016–17, further strengthening state-level responses to gender-based violence.
MSSKs provide survivor-centred support through individual counselling, mediation, and legal intervention where required and desired. The centres work towards holistic redressal by linking survivors to medical and mental health services, safety planning, short-stay support, childcare, and opportunities for education or livelihoods. MSSKs are accessible to children and adolescents below 18 years, and to adult cis women and transwomen facing various forms of violence, including domestic violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, sexual abuse, and workplace sexual harassment.
Vishakha’s experiences and learning from its work with MSSKs between 2004 and 2011 have been compiled in a detailed presentation, which can be accessed here.
Hamkadam is a counselling and support centre initiated by Vishakha to respond to the lived realities of women and adolescent girls facing violence and related vulnerabilities. Rooted in Vishakha’s long-standing feminist practice and community-based work, and shaped by years of learning from violence prevention, SRHR, mental health, and holistic redressal initiatives—including the organisation’s experience of running MSSKs—Hamkadam provides integrated support across a range of issues. Through telephonic and face-to-face counselling, the centre addresses concerns related to gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), mental health and well-being, documentation, access to schemes and entitlements, education, and other social support needs. Hamkadam works by creating a safe, non-judgmental space where women and adolescent girls are heard, supported to make informed decisions at their own pace, and linked to appropriate services and systems based on their consent.
Hamkadam Shelter is a safe space created by Vishakha for women and adolescent girls facing crisis and violence. Along with providing temporary protection and care, the shelter also supports adolescent girls who stay here to continue their education or prepare for coaching and competitive exams, particularly when access to safe study spaces or learning resources at home is limited or restricted. Guided by a survivor-centred and feminist approach, the space prioritises dignity, safety, privacy, and informed choice.
