Women Safety

GS-II – Social Justice | Women & Child Safety | Policing | Justice Delivery

Why in News?

• Recent Sexual Assaults: Women and children across the national capital have also been victims of sexual assault, including:
  • Three men impersonating as police officials and gang-raping a 17-year-old girl in Astha Kunj Park.
  • Teen gang-raped, murdered in Swaroop Nagar.
  • Gang-rape of another 17-year-old on a Greater Noida to Delhi sleeper-bus.
• These incidents have reignited fears of the little progress made in women’s safety even 14 years after the Nirbhaya case.

Crime Against Women: Rising Trend

• NCRB Data: NCRB data shows that crimes against women increased from 2.4 lakh in 2012 to 4.4 lakh in 2024, an increase of about 80%. 
• Reporting: Higher reporting of crimes due to new laws and schemes is probably a factor in the increase.
• The number of crimes against women was reported to be more than 50 every hour in the year 2024.
• Among Metro Cities: Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow and Delhi had the highest share of crimes against women.

Government Initiatives

• To address the crimes against women government has introduced various measures which are:
  • Safe City Project.
  • Mission Shakti.
  • Women’s Helpline.
  • Emergency Response Support System.
  • One Stop Centres for Sexual Violence Survivors.
  • Fast-Track Courts.
• In the meantime, most of these initiatives have been funded through the Nirbhaya Fund.

Implementation Gap

• Safe Cities: Money spent on lighting and CCTV cameras in a city does not make it safe. It must be:
  • Functional.
  • Monitored.
  • Connected to a response system.
• Police Response: Police patrols and emergency numbers are only as good as the responses thereof – rapid intervention by trained and sensitised personnel matters.
• Crimes Recently: The incidents question the effect of schemes already in place.

From Scheme-Based to Outcome-Based Policing

• Preventive Policing: (life of crime) go from scheme based to preventive outcome based policing.
• Public Audits: Vulnerable locations should receive public audits.
• Accountability: Audits should have:
  • Clear deadlines.
  • Accountability.
  • Rectification of deficiencies.

Justice Delivery

• Case Backlog: The massive backlog of cases in the justice system needs to be cleared.
• Quick Investigation: The speed of investigation turns to be meaningless when it takes years for trial to happen for the survivors.

Women’s Freedom and Safety

• We must ensure that in the name of protecting women, we do not exchange their safety for making them less free.
• The demands to assume women should, in unsafe public spaces:
  • Avoid parks after dark.
  • Return home earlier.
  • Travel only with companions.
  • They arrange their lives around the threat of male violence.

Transforming the Sexual Violence Culture

• The culture of rape and extreme masculinity needs to be challenged.
• This longtime patriarchal tradition can facilitate such a culture.

Conclusion

• Women’s safety through policing can only be achieved if it is driven by prevention and results rather than providing schemes.
• Implementation to the letter, a viable safety infrastructure, swift action from the police, quick justice and accountability in here.
• Above all, there is the need to confront toxic masculinity and cultures of sexual violence.

UPSC Mains Practice Question

Q. Crimes against women remain a serious challenge even after all the laws, schemes, and institutional mechanisms that were put in place post-Nirbhaya. Why do we need to shift from scheme-based policing to preventive and outcomes based policing for Women safety.