Image Credit: The Hindu

• The National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025 sets 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 are associated with stronger gender equity, civic participation, policing, and women-friendly infrastructure.

  

Image Credit: The Hindu

• Patna, Jaipur, Faridabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Srinagar, and Ranchi sit at the bottom of the NARI 2025 index. Women in these cities reported the highest levels of insecurity (for instance, ~42% of women in Delhi and Faridabad feel unsafe). These cities suffer from weak institutional responsiveness, patriarchal social norms, and gaps in urban infrastructure and policing.

• 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% of 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 response, 28% of women confronted harassers, 25% left the scene, 21% sought safety in crowds, and 20% reported incidents 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.