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On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Local Circles, a community social media platform, carried out a survey to study the dismal state of affairs for women in India.
The survey cited the Thomson Reuters Foundation report published in 2018 that ranked India as the most dangerous country for women.
It further quoted the NCRB report in 2019 that said that out of four lakh reported cases of crimes committed against women, 32,033 related to rape.
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LocalCircles sought feedback from citizens regarding the issue. It conducted a survey to understand how vulnerable women are to becoming victims of sexual advances and molestation in public places in India.
It also intended to understand what actions the victims took to book the perpetrators. The survey received more than 24,000 responses from over 14,000 unique citizens located in 319 districts of India.
The survey revealed that 29 per cent Indian women have faced molestation or sexual advances in public places; 9 per cent have faced it multiple times, and 17 per cent respondents couldn’t say if the women in their homes experienced it.
Findings from the poll indicated that trains, stations, public gatherings, and streets are top locations where the majority of Indian women have experienced molestation or sexual advances.
Of those Indian women who faced molestation or sexual advances in public places, only 23 per cent filed a police complaint or First Information Report (FIR).
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The poll also tried to understand what action the victims took when they or a family member faced molestation or sexual advances by someone in a public place. While 23 per cent said they “filed an FIR or police complaint”, 15 per cent said “though we tried hard to file an FIR or police complaint, the police did not register it and did not take any action” and 3 per cent said, “police did not register an FIR or police complaint, but the culprits were beaten up or harassed by police.”
There were also 3 per cent who said that the “public around me went after them but no complaint or FIR was filed”, while 18 per cent said the perpetrators were “thrashed on the spot but did not file a complaint or FIR.”
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