India ranked as the world's most dangerous country for women

LONDON: In the Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of about 550 experts on women’s issues, India is ranked as the world's most dangerous country for women, due to the high risk of sexually violence and being forced into slave labor. Following were war-torn Afghanistan and Syria bring second and third, being followed by Somalia and Saudi Arabia. The poll was one of global experts, released on Tuesday.

In the top ten, the US was the only Western nation, which ranked joint third when respondents were asked where women were most at risk of sexual violence, harassment and being coerced into sex.

A survey in 2011 found that experts saw Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India, and Somalia as the most dangerous countries for women. This poll was a repeat of that survey.

The rape and murder of a student in a bus in Delhi made violence against women a national priority, but whatever is being done after more than five years of the incident is apparently not enough to tackle the danger women face, said experts.

“India has shown utter disregard and disrespect for women... rape, marital rapes, sexual assault and harassment, female infanticide has gone unabated,” said Manjunath Gangadhara, an official at the Karnataka state government.

“The (world’s) fastest growing economy and leader in space and technology is shamed for violence committed against women.”

Government data shows reported cases of crime against women rose by 83 percent between 2007 and 2016, when there were four cases of rape reported every hour.
 
Respondents of the survey were asked which five of the 193 UN states they thought were worst in terms of healthcare, economic resources, cultural or traditional practices, sexual violence and harassment, non-sexual violence and human trafficking.

They ranked India as the most dangerous country for women in terms of human trafficking, including sex slavery and domestic servitude, and for customary practices such as forced marriage, stoning and female infanticide.

India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development declined to comment on the survey results.