National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025:
Released by the National Commission for Women, NARI 2025 offers the telling reality of the urban safety landscape.
- The report, a collaborative effort by the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians (GIA), Pvalue Analytics, The NorthCap University, and Jindal Global Law School, is based on a survey of 12,770 women across 31 cities in all states.
Highlights of the Report:
- It placed the national safety score at 65%, categorising cities as “much above”, “above”, “below” or “much below” this benchmark.
- Kohima, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Aizawl, Gangtok, Itanagar, and Mumbai have emerged as the safest cities in the country for women, while Patna, Jaipur, Faridabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Srinagar, and Ranchi were ranked the lowest.
- Kohima and other top-ranked cities were associated with stronger gender equity, civic participation, policing, and women-friendly infrastructure.
- At the other end of the spectrum, cities like Patna and Jaipur fared poorly due to weak institutional responsiveness, patriarchal norms, and gaps in urban infrastructure.
- Overall, six in ten women surveyed felt “safe” in their city, but 40% still considered themselves “not so safe” or “unsafe”.
- Prevalence of harassment remains high, with 7% women reporting at least one incident of harassment in public spaces in 2024.
- The highest risk group is women under 24 years of age (14% reported harassment).
- Verbal harassment was most common (58%), with physical, psychological, economic, and sexual harassment reported less frequently.
- Neighborhoods (38%) and transport (29%) were the main hotspots for harassment.
- In terms of response, 28% of women confronted harassers, 25% left the scene, 21% sought safety in crowds, and 20% reported to authorities.
- The study revealed sharp drops in perceptions of safety at night, particularly in public transport and recreational spaces.
- While 86% of women felt safe in educational institutions during daylight hours, safety perceptions fall sharply at night or off-campus.
- The report shows low levels of faith in the redressal mechanism.
- Only one in three victims of harassment filed a formal complaint.
- Only one in four women expressed confidence that authorities would take effective action on their safety complaints.
- A concerning 53% were unaware whether their workplaces had a Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) policy in place.
- Even when incidents are reported, only 22% are formally registered, and action is taken in a mere 16% of those cases.
