Poll ranks India the world's most dangerous country for women A survey of global experts puts Afghanistan and Syria in second and third place, with the US the only western nation in the top 10
Poll ranks India the world's most dangerous country for women
A survey of global experts puts Afghanistan and Syria in second and third place, with the US the only western nation in the top 10
India is the world’s most dangerous country for women due to the high risk of sexual violence and being forced into slave labour, according to a poll of global experts.
Afghanistan and Syria ranked second and third in a Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of 548 experts on women’s issues, followed by Somalia and Saudi Arabia.
The only western nation in the top 10 was the US, which ranked joint third when respondents were asked where women were most at risk of sexual violence, harassment and being coerced into sex.
The poll was a repeat of a survey in 2011, in which experts saw Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, India and Somalia as the most dangerous countries for women.
Experts said India moving to the top position showed not enough was being done to tackle the danger women faced, more than five years after the rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus made violence against women a national priority.
“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 crimes against women in India rose by 83% between 2007 and 2016, when there were four cases of rape reported every hour.
The survey asked respondents which five of the 193 UN member states they thought were most dangerous for women and which country was worst in terms of healthcare, economic resources, cultural or traditional practices, sexual violence and harassment, non-sexual violence and human trafficking.
Respondents also ranked India the most dangerous country for women in terms of human trafficking, including sex and domestic slavery, and for customary practices such as forced marriage, stoning and female infanticide.
India’s ministry of women and child development declined to comment.
Afghanistan fared worst in four of the seven questions, with concerns over healthcare and conflict-related violence.
The country’s public health minister, Ferozuddin Feroz, said the deteriorating security situation was making life difficult for women, with large parts of the country still in Taliban control after nearly 17 years of war.
“Nowadays, suicide bombings and armed conflict are the third [highest] cause of deaths and disability in Afghanistan,” he said.
“Instead of focusing on maternal health, on nutritional status, we spend it on trauma.”
The seven-year war drove Syria into third place in the survey, amid concerns over access to healthcare and both sexual and non-sexual violence.
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