National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI), 2025

Why in News?

Recently, National Annual Report & Index on Women’s Safety released based on a survey of 12,770 women across 31 cities.

• The report aims to capture unreported harassment, lived experiences, and perceptions of safety beyond official crime figures.
• Released by – National Commission for Women (NCW).
• National safety score - India received a national safety score of 65%.
• Categories - “Much above”, “Above”, “Below” or “Much below”.

• Safety Among Women – Six in ten women felt safe in their city, but 40% still considered themselves not so safe or unsafe.

• It revealed sharp drops in perceptions of safety at night, educational institutions 86% safe, especially in daylight, but safety perceptions fall sharply at night or off-campus.
• Incidents of harassment - 7% of women reported experiencing harassment in public spaces in 2024.
• This figure doubled to 14% for women under 24, indicating that young women are a high-risk group.
• Underreporting - The report revealed that two-thirds of harassment incidents go unreported, meaning that official National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data misses the majority of cases.
• Harassment hotspots – Neighbourhoods (38%) and public transport (29%) were most often flagged as harassment hotspots.
• Responses to harassment - Women's reactions varied, with 28% confronting the harasser, 25% leaving the scene, and only 20% reporting to authorities.
• Trust in redressal mechanisms - Low confidence - Confidence in authorities is weak, with only one in three victims filing a formal complaint.
• Lack of action - Of the complaints filed, only 22% were formally registered, and action was taken in only 16% of those cases.
• Trust gap - As many as 75% of women expressed a lack of confidence in the effectiveness of police and legal agencies.
• Workplace safety - Perceived safety - 91% of women felt safe in their workplaces.
• POSH awareness gap - However, over half of the women (53%) were unaware of whether their organization had implemented a Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) policy.
• Positive measures – The growing presence of women police officers and female drivers in public transport as effective confidence-building steps.
• In many union territories, 33% of police personnel are now women, and this has made a decisive difference in building trust.
• Enhanced CCTV coverage under smart city projects has improved monitoring and deterrence of crimes in public spaces.
• Cybercrime and data privacy risks has led to increased focus on strengthening digital protections for women.

Reference

The Hindu| National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety