Women, girls safer in India since 2015, say NFHS figures: Government in Parliament

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday informed the Parliament that there has been a favourable decline in crimes against women in India since 2015. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani said that domestic violence, including violence during pregnancy down from NFHS-4 survey period.

Also, there has been no increase in sexual violence against girls under 18 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi regime.

The WCD Minister said that as per the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data - NFHS-5, 29.3 per cent ever-married women age 18 and 49 years have experienced spousal violence as against 31.2 per cent recorder in NFHS-4.

For the unversed, the NFHS 4 was in conducted in 2015, while the next survey - NFHS 5 was in 2020.

Only 3.1 per cent ever-married women age 18 and 49 years have experienced physical violence during any pregnancy as against 3.9 per cent reported in NFHS.

Young women age 18 and 29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18 have also remained low at 1.5 per cent.

"The impact of social protection schemes on women in the country is multi-dimensional which includes economic empowerment, and improvement in education, self respect, morale, confidence and inner strength. Further, all these measures have resulted in reduction of crime against women," the Union Minister said.

Decline in crimes against women in India

There has been a remarkable decline in crime against women in India. According to data published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), crimes against women which was 3,71,503 in 2020, as against 4,05,326 in 2019.

The NCRB annual report - Crime in India 2020 - shows that there has been significant decline in crimes against women in India. As per the data, overall there was a decline of 8.3 per cent in cases of crimes against women in the country. Uttar Pradesh and Delhi recorded a favourable fall in the number of crimes against women as compared to previous tear.

National Capital Delhi reported decline from 13,395 cases in 2019 to 10,093 cases in 2020; a significant drop of 25 per cent. The neighbouring Uttar Pradesh witnessed the maximum decline from 59,853 in 2019 to 49,385 in 2020.

The rate of crime against women is calculated as crimes reported per 100,000 population. According to the NCRB 2020 data, majority of the states and Union Territories had registered a drop in crimes against women.

These include - Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tipura, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Delhi, and Lakshadweep.

The crime rate registered per lakh women population is 56.5 in 2020 in comparison with 62.3 in 2019.

Ministry of Home Affairs sets up Women Safety Division

The Ministry of Home Affairs, or MHA, has on 28 May, 2018, set up 'Women Safety Division' to strengthen measures for safety of women in the country and instill greater sense of security in them through speedy and effective administration of justice and by enabling a safer environment for women.

With inputs from agencies

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