Congress slams ‘image-conscious’ politicians for rejecting report on women safety

New Delhi: The Congress said on Saturday that some "image conscious" politicians were doing great disservice to women by rejecting as a "perception survey" the poll that ranked India as the world's most dangerous country for the fairer sex.

The poll conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation should be taken as an indicator of the challenges being faced by women in the country, party spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said at a women forum.

"If we continue to behave like that... then I am sorry, there is enough data to prove that we are not doing enough. How can I not welcome a report that tells me the challenges faced by my country?" she asked.

"The outright rejection by the NCW is extremely unfortunate and I think the WCD Ministry has also rejected it. I think that it is a very myopic view to understand where we women are lagging and where we can do better," she said.

Chaturvedi said that the general mindset was that a "woman can only do well in a few areas and they can play only a certain role in society. This also applies to politics".

She also empathised with Union minister Sushma Swaraj, who was recently trolled on social media after a controversy erupted over issuance of passport to an interfaith couple.

The Congress leader rued that no political leader came out in support of the external affairs minister and said,

"As women who are in the position of power should look beyond politics and come out and support other women who are facing problems."