Survey finds India most dangerous for women
550 experts from around the world highlight women’s issues
London, June 26: India is the world’s most dangerous country followed by wartorn Afghanistan and Syria for women due to the high risk of sexual violence, according to a poll of global experts released on Tuesday.
Somalia and Saudi Arabia are ranked fourth and fifth respectively in the Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of about 550 experts on women’s issues.
The poll of 548 people was conducted online, by phone and in person between March 26 and May 4 with an even spread across Europe, Africa, the Americas, South East Asia, South Asia and the Pacific.
“The only Western nation in the top 10 was the US, which ranked joint third when respondents were asked where women were most at risk of sexual violence, harassment and being coerced into sex,” according to the foundation.
The poll was a repeat of a survey in 2011 in which Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India, and Somalia were named as the most dangerous countries for women.
The survey asked respondents which five of the 193 UN member states they thought were most dangerous for women and which country was worst in terms of healthcare, economic resources, cultural or traditional practices, sexual violence and harassment, non-sexual violence and human trafficking.
Respondents also ranked India the most dangerous country for women in terms of human trafficking, including sex slavery and domestic servitude, and for customary practices such as forced marriage, stoning and female infanticide, the foundation said in a statement.
In 2011, India was ranked fourth in the list of the world’s most dangerous countries.
However, in 2018, it has beaten Afghanistan and even Syria, two war stricken countries, to top the list, making it the most unsafe country for women. Women repeatedly succumb to sexual violence, female infanticide, genital mutilation and other forms of violence, with low access to healthcare and even education.
Ranked “Worst” on all four indicators, which are, Cultural practices, Sexual violence, Economic Opportunities and Education, India has seen an increase of 83 per cent in crimes against women across the country.
However, Delhi has found special mention in the report and is still touted as the “rape capital” of the country. Other metro cities have also not fared well with countless complaints of groping, abuse, rape, molestation and other abuses.
However, the National Commission at Delhi refutes the report saying that such a shocking result “cannot” be true.
Tripurana Venkataratnam, the adviser to the National Commission for Women says “We have widely discussed the report and it cannot be based on facts. Although we admit that violence against women prevails, we cannot beat countries such as Syria and Afghanistan. We are reeling under patriarchy and other cultural practices but every other kind of violence against women is the same throughout the world.”
She further stated that people expected the number of crimes against women to come down after the 2010 Nirbhaya incident, however, it did not happen.
“There are more crimes being committed and the videos of these crimes are even uploaded on social media. We need to work a lot more on our laws and policies, however, we do not deserve to top the list,” she said.
Many other women have refuted her statement by saying that disbelief will not help in the progress of the nation.
Sunitha Krishnan, an anti-trafficking crusader and Padma Shri awardee says, “To change the mindset of people, we should address the problems dealt by women from a young age. There needs to be an addition in the curriculum at a school level that teaches respect and questions cultural practices against women.”
“The increasing sexual violence in India is reaching an epidemic level. We should stop ostracising, shaming and stigmatising victims. We have a long way to go in addressing our redressal mechanisms. Unless we create a fear in the perpetrator and show that our judicial system will not side with the accused, we cannot guarantee safety,” says Sunitha Krishnan.
Andhra Pradesh Women’s Commission Chairperson Nannapaneni Rajakumari says “Even though there are several campaigns against infanticide and abuse and also the Beti Bachao campaign, women continue to suffer because of the mindset of society. We need to find the actual cause and find remedies and take up preventative steps such as a faster judicial process for perpetrators.”
“In many rape cases, the accused are close family members and, therefore, victims hesitate to complain and fearing the death penalty, most perpetrators also kill the victims. The word victim should not be encouraged in rape cases because the girl doesn’t lose her honour. The accused should be shamed,” Nannapaneni Rajakumari added.