Context: Recent incidents of sexual assault against women and children in Delhi and surrounding areas have renewed concerns over the effectiveness of measures introduced after the 2012 Nirbhaya case.
- Despite new laws, schemes and dedicated funds, crimes against women remain a major concern, highlighting gaps in prevention, policing, infrastructure and justice delivery.
Rising Crimes Against Women
- The NCRB recorded an increase in reported crimes against women from about 2.4 lakh in 2012 to 4.4 lakh in 2024, an increase of nearly 80%.
- Part of the increase may reflect greater reporting due to improved legal and institutional mechanisms, but this alone does not explain the scale of the rise.
- In 2024, more than 50 crimes against women were reported every hour.
- Among metropolitan cities, Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow and Delhi recorded the highest crime rates against women.
Government Measures After Nirbhaya
- The government has introduced several measures, including the Safe City Project, Mission Shakti, women’s helplines, Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), One Stop Centres and Fast-Track Courts.
- Many such initiatives receive financial support through the Nirbhaya Fund, created to support projects aimed at women's safety and empowerment.
- Recent incidents, however, raise concerns regarding the implementation, monitoring and effectiveness of these interventions.
Implementation Gaps in Women’s Safety
Infrastructure Alone Is Insufficient
- Street lighting and CCTV cameras can improve surveillance only when they are functional, regularly monitored and linked to an effective emergency-response mechanism.
- Similarly, police patrols and emergency helplines are meaningful only when trained and gender-sensitive personnel respond promptly.
From Scheme-Based to Outcome-Based Policing
- Authorities should move beyond merely establishing schemes towards preventive and outcome-based policing, where actual reductions in vulnerability and response time are measured.
- Vulnerable locations should undergo regular public safety audits, with identified deficiencies assigned clear deadlines, responsible authorities and accountability mechanisms.
Justice Delivery and Institutional Capacity
- The effectiveness of criminal-justice reforms is weakened by the large backlog of cases, which can leave survivors waiting years for trial.
- Faster investigation must therefore be accompanied by timely trials and adequate judicial capacity.
- Fast-Track Courts can help expedite designated cases, but their effectiveness depends on adequate judges, prosecutors, infrastructure and case-management systems.
Women’s Freedom Cannot Be the Price of Safety
- Women’s safety should not be addressed through restrictions such as asking women to avoid public spaces after dark, return home early, travel only with companions or otherwise limit their mobility.
- Such measures shift the responsibility for preventing violence from perpetrators and institutions to potential victims.
- The objective should instead be to make public spaces safe and accessible to women, regardless of time and circumstances.
Addressing the Root Causes
- Long-term prevention requires confronting the culture of sexual violence and gender-based discrimination.
- Patriarchal social norms, gender stereotypes and toxic masculinity can contribute to attitudes that normalise control, entitlement and violence against women.
- Legal and policing measures therefore need to be complemented by gender sensitisation, education, social awareness and behavioural change.
Nirbhaya Fund
- A non-lapsable corpus established in 2013 following the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case.
- Finances initiatives aimed at women’s safety and security, including technological, infrastructural and institutional interventions.
- Implementing Ministries/Departments and States/UTs undertake projects funded through the mechanism.
Mission Shakti
- An umbrella programme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development focused on women’s safety, security and empowerment.
- Its two broad components are Sambal (safety and security) and Samarthya (empowerment).
Safe City Approach
- Focuses on making urban spaces safer through measures such as technology-enabled surveillance, improved lighting, emergency response and strengthened policing.
- Its effectiveness depends not merely on installing infrastructure but on functionality, monitoring, coordination and timely police response.
Way Forward
- Functional infrastructure + responsive policing + timely justice + social transformation must operate together.
- Women’s safety should be treated as a question of freedom, equal citizenship and access to public spaces, rather than as a justification for restricting women’s mobility.
