Women Helpline 181 — Sakhi, She-Box, legal help

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Numbers cross-checked against the Ministry of Women and Child Development's SHe-Box portal.

The SHe-Box portal of the Ministry of Women and Child Development lists the family together:

The SHe-Box portal itself — shebox.wcd.gov.in — is the Ministry's live grievance platform for workplace harassment. The older shebox.nic.in address should be treated as superseded.

Under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005:

1. Call 181 first — the helpline can connect you to the district Protection Officer, who records the domestic incident report.
2. The Protection Officer's report powers the Magistrate's orders: residence, protection, maintenance and custody.
3. Free legal representation is your right — ask NALSA on 15100 or the district legal services authority.
4. Never accept “come with your husband and settle” as the final word; the Act's reliefs do not require you to leave first.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013 gives two parallel doors:

• Internal Committee at your workplace — the employer's, for organizations with ten or more employees.
• Local Committee at the district — where the employer has none, or where the complaint is against the employer.
• SHe-Box — file online at shebox.wcd.gov.in, which routes the complaint to the right committee and tracks it. Filing on SHe-Box does not replace your right to the committee process; it registers and tracks it centrally.

Timelines matter: committees must complete inquiry within 90 days, and the law forbids retaliation against you for complaining.

Shelters, One Stop Centres and helplines vary by district, and follow-through can lag. That is where the paper trail wins:

To, The Public Information Officer,
[District Social Welfare Office / WCD department]

Under §6(1) RTI Act 2005, please provide:
1. Status of my complaint / DIR application no. _____ dated _____.
2. Name and designation of the Protection Officer assigned to my case.
3. The number of One Stop Centre sessions and shelter vacancies this quarter.
4. Timeline prescribed for my relief type and my file's compliance with it.
5. Action taken on my request dated _____ for legal aid.

₹10 IPO enclosed.

Real example. Kashvi Pathak of Lucknow helped her domestic worker file a maintenance application that sat unassigned for six weeks. A ₹10 RTI to the district office asking for the assigned officer's name and the prescribed timeline brought an allocation letter within the month — the file had simply never been marked.

An emergency call works better with five facts in the first thirty seconds: who is at risk, where exactly — landmark helps, what is happening, whether children are present, and whether you need police, shelter or medical aid now. Ask for a reference or complaint number before hanging up; the operator's log is what connects the call to follow-up.

Afterwards, move the matter onto paper within a day: a written complaint to the Protection Officer or police station with the call's date and number, photographs if relevant, and a request for the domestic incident report where violence is involved. Helplines open the door; the written record holds it open when staff change.

Yes — toll-free and 24×7, with interpreters for multiple languages.

The district Local Committee, and simultaneously online on SHe-Box at shebox.wcd.gov.in.

Yes. NALSA on 15100, or your district legal services authority — free legal aid is a statutory right for women.

The district officer under the 2005 Act who records your domestic incident report and connects you to shelter, medical aid and legal services.

File without long delay — committees expect complaints within three months of the incident, with good-cause extensions possible.

• SHe-Box, Ministry of Women and Child Development — helpline listings and online complaint filing
• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005
• Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013

• All helplines and grievance routes
• Police grievance — 112, 1930 and RTI
• Civil and family law — citizen guides
• AI RTI Drafter — auto-fills PIO details
• The RTI Playbook