Lok Sabha Question No. 41 (STARRED), answered on 2018-07-20
Subject: Survey on Women’s Safety
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: RAM CHARITRA, JYOTIRADITYA MADHAVRAO SCINDIA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.41

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2018

## SURVEY ON WOMEN'S SAFETY

## *41. SHRI RAM CHARITRA NISHAD: SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Union Government has taken note of the survey conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation which considered India as the most dangerous country in the world for  women  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  reaction  of  the  Union Government thereto;
- (b) whether  the  Union  Government/National  Commission  for  Women  has  rejected  the findings of the survey and demanded for the withdrawal of the said report and if so, the details  thereof  along  with  the  basis  on  which  the  Union  Government has rejected this survey; and
- (c) the action plan envisaged to ensure women's safety and security across the country as well as to improve the international image of the country on this count?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI)

- (a) to  (c) :  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.41  FOR  20.07.2018  ASKED  BY  SHRI  RAM  CHARITRA  NISHAD  AND  SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA REGARDING 'SURVEY ON WOMEN'S SAFETY'

(a)    &  (b)      :  As  per  a  recent  poll  titled  'The  world's  most  dangerous  countries  for  women 2018', Thompson Reuters Foundation has proclaimed India as the most dangerous country for women. As the proclamation is based on an opinion poll, rather than any reports or data, the Government of India rejected the survey and issued a press release on 27 th June 2018. (Copy at Annexure-I )

(c) :  Safety of women in the country is of utmost priority for the Government. The Government is endeavouring to put in place effective mechanisms to provide safe environment for women. This Ministry has submitted an Action Plan for the safety of women to the Ministry of Home Affairs. A number of steps have been taken for increasing safety of women, which inter alia include:

- i) The  Criminal  Law  (Amendment)  Ordinance,  2018  has  put  in  place  a  regime  which prescribes stringent punishment against rapes, including death penalty.
2. ii) Amendment in The Juvenile Justice  (Care  and  Protection  of  Children)  Act,  2015  has also  broadened the definition  of  child  in  need  of  care  and  protection  to  include  those children who are at imminent risk of child marriage. The Act also allows juveniles (16 years or older) to be tried as adults for heinous offences like rape and murder.
3. iii) The Nirbhaya Fund is supporting a number of projects for women's safety. An amount of  Rs.  3600  Cr  has  been  allocated  to  the  Fund  upto  2018-19.  Owing  to  thorough restructuring of the way the Fund was being deployed, approximately Rs 6,312.46 Cr have been appraised so far for projects around the country.
4. iv) 195 One Stop Centres have been set up across India to provide single window services to  women  affected  by  violence.  Services  include  medical  aid,  police  assistance,  legal aid/case management, psychosocial counseling and temporary shelter. One Stop Centres have  already  assisted  1.5  lakh  women  till  date,  and  more  Centres  are  to  be  set  up  in every district of the country.
- v) 181  Women  Helpline  provides  immediate  and  24x7  emergency  response  to  women affected by violence. 181 is currently functional in 31 States/UTs and has assisted over 17.4 lakh women till date.
6. vi) Government has undertaken a project for developing an Emergency Response Support System  based  on  a  Pan-India  24x7  Helpline  Number  112,  and  accessible  through call/SMS/email/panic button, etc.
7. vii) Government  has  approved  safe-city  projects  under  the  Nirbhaya  Fund  for  8  cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow) to  put  in  place  comprehensive  infrastructure,  technological  and  community  based interventions for women's safety.
8. viii) This  Ministry  is  working  with  MHA,  MeitY  and  MEA  to  develop  a  comprehensive response  to  all  kinds  of  cyber  crime  against  women  and  children,  especially  Child Sexual  Abuse  Material,  Rape  and  Gangrape  Imagery,  etc.  A  Central  Reporting

Mechanism  is  being  created  as  a  hotline  for  anyone  to  report  cyber  crime.  Easier processes to be put in place to remove Child Sexual Abuse Material, Rape and Gangrape imagery etc. from the internet.

- ix) State Governments are increasing representation of women in police to 33% of the total strength, to make the force more women-friendly.
- x) Compensation Scheme for women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/other Crimes, 2018  has  increased  monetary  relief/compensation  to  victims/dependents  who  have suffered loss, injury and who require rehabilitation. Compensation has been increased substantially from earlier scheme and new offences have been added. The compensation is to be disbursed speedily without waiting for conviction.
- xi) This Ministry is running a Public Grievance Cell which responds to complaints directly from citizens. It gives women citizens a way to send their grievances online directly to the government.

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## PRESS RELEASE

## The world's most dangerous countries for women 2018 by Thomson Reuters Foundation

As  per  a  recent  poll  titled  ' The  world's  most  dangerous  countries  for  women  2018' Thompson Reuters Foundation has proclaimed India as the most dangerous country for women. This proclamation is based on an opinion poll, rather than any reports or data.

Reuters has used a flawed methodology to arrive at this claim. The ranking is based on a perception poll based on responses to simply six questions. The results are not derived from any kind of data and are solely based on inherently subjective opinions. Further, the poll has been conducted with 548 respondents, which have been defined by Reuters as 'experts focused on women's issues'. However, information on their designation, credentials, country of expertise or  qualifications  is  not  available  thus  reliability  is  an  issue.  The  methodology  given  by  the organisation also includes 'policymakers' as one of the respondents. However, no information or opinion has been sought from this Ministry regarding this poll.

The six questions posed as part of the poll cannot fairly be applied to all countries. E.g. the age  bar  for  defining  child  marriage  is  different  in  every  country,  mutilation  as  a  means  of punishment, female genital mutilation, stoning etc. are not practiced in India.

Further,  it  is  due  to  open  data  sharing,  a  consultative  policy  formulation  process  and transparent  systems  of  the  government  that  problems  affecting  women  can  be  highlighted. There is open communication of the government with the media, researchers and NGOs thus creating the opportunity for public debate. The strong public discourse and independent media in the country are able to openly discuss sensitive issues of violence against women and debate is encouraged. It is due to this open system that issues of women are highlighted in India, thus perhaps building the perception that the situation in the country is particularly bad.

The  poll  has  collected  opinions  of  548  persons  on  healthcare,  discrimination,  cultural traditions,  sexual  violence,  non-sexual  violence  and  human  trafficking.  India  is  far  ahead  of many countries in most of these areas and has also seen significant improvement in indicators when compared with its own performance in previous years. Therefore, the ranking of India is a surprise and clearly inaccurate.

For  example,  as  per  Sample  Registration  Survey  (SRS)  released  in  June  2018,  India  has registered a significant reduction of 22% in Maternal Mortality Ratio since 2013. Further, sex ratio at birth has significantly increased across the country, pointing to a drop in sex selective abortions.

On the economic front too there has been huge progress - over 45.6 lakh SHGs have been promoted across the country for women's livelihood with over Rs. 2000 crore available in their revolving  funds.  More  than  1.26  crore  bank  accounts  have  been  opened  under  Sukanya Samruddhi Yojana to ensure financial inclusion of girls and more than half the Jan Dhan bank account holders in India are women. In primary and secondary levels of education, India has achieved Gender Parity with equal enrolment of girls and boys. It is thus not accurate to say that women in India lack access to economic resources.

There is  positive  data  in  the  areas  of  violence  too.  There  has  been  a  drastic  reduction  in child marriage over the years, with reports of marriage in the age group of 0-9 years now being nil. Further, the percentage of women age 15-19 years who were already mothers or pregnant has dropped from 16% in 2005-06 to 7.9% in 2015-16.

As per NCRB data, 38,947 cases of rape have been registered in the year 2016. In the year 2014 and 2015, 36,735 and 34,651 cases were reported. The increase in reporting is a result of the favourable environment for women to access police authorities. Further, the rate of rape in India stands at 0.03 per 1000 population whereas US has reported a much higher figure of 1.2 rapes per 1000 population. The cases of acid attack are only incidental in the country and as mentioned earlier, practices of stoning, female genital mutilation etc. are not seen here. India can thus not possibly be the worst in the world in terms of violence.

Data on bonded and forced labour is also dropping drastically and the reports of crime are being  dealt  with  seriously.  Trafficking  will  also  be  comprehensively  addressed  through  the recently prepared Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018.

Despite data to the contrary, the usage of an opinion poll to peg India as the most dangerous country for women is clearly an effort to malign the nation and draw attention away from real improvements seen in recent years.

Ever  since  the  unfortunate  incident  of  2012,  the  entire  country  has  been  alert  about  the safety of women and ensuring their equality at home, in the economy and in society at large. The government has been taking a lead in this direction.

The recently enacted Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013 and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 have provided more stringent punishment for rape, have broadened its definition and included new offences such  as  acid  attack,  stalking,  sexual  harassment,  voyeurism,  disrobing  and  sexual  violence against boys below 18 years of age. Amendment in The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 has also broadened the definition of child in need of care and protection to include those children who are at imminent risk of child marriage. The Act also allow juveniles (16 years or older) to be tried as adults for heinous offences like rape and murder.

State  Governments  are  increasing  representation  of  women  in  police  to  33%  of  the  total strength, to make the force more women-friendly. Institutional support mechanisms have also been put in place like 193 One Stop Centres and Women Helplines in 31 States to provide 24 hour emergency and non-emergency response including police assistance, legal aid and legal counselling, medical aid, psycho-social counselling, temporary shelter etc. The institutions have provided support to over 12 lakh of women in the past ~3 years.

To  ensure  women  have  equal  opportunities,  loans  worth  Rs.  2,25,904  crore  have  been extended  to  7.88  crore  women  entrepreneurs,  under  the  MUDRA  Yojana.  Over  50%  of  the certifications provided under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana have been to women. More women are  joining  the  workforce  and  starting  to  control  economic  resources.  Over  5  lakh  women Directors currently appointed in companies, which is highest ever number in India.

Under  PMAY  (Urban),  houses  are  being  allotted  in  the  name  of  the  female  head  of  the household or joint name of male head and wife. In PMAY (Grameen), this is being done where government  land  is  allotted,  and  encouraged  in  other  cases.  Over  2  lakh  houses  for  women sanctioned  under  PMAY  (Grameen).  The  right  of  women  to  ancestral  land  is  also  being encouraged.

The government has further launched multiple scholarships with special focus on education of  girl  child  in  secondary  as  well  as  higher  education  which  are  showing  significant  positive outcomes. Dropouts rates have come down dramatically and more women are carrying on their education to college level and beyond.

Maternal health has also shown significant improvement with concerted efforts having been made by the government. In a major step, maternity leave has been extended to 6 months so women do not lose their jobs or income due to pregnancy. Cash incentives are also being given to mothers across the country to encourage them to register pregnancies, deliver in hospitals and access pre and post natal care.

These efforts have shown results and the life of the average Indian woman is far improved from  a  decade  ago.  She  is  also  in  a  much  better  position  than  a  number  of  women  in  other countries around the world. Facts clearly show that the opinion of India as the most dangerous country for women is not a reflection of reality.

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