WCD ministry dismissed the findings of the survey. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)
Dismissing the survey which ranked India as the most dangerous country for women, the Women and Child Development Ministry termed it “clearly inaccurate” and said that the report was based on the perception of “unknown persons”, news agency PTI reported.
According to officials, as quoted by the PTI, the ministry has asked Thomson Reuters Foundation to provide the details of the experts to ascertain the report’s authenticity. The ministry also added that the organisation had a flawed methodology to reach that conclusion.
Earlier, the chairman of National Commission for Women (NCW), Rekha Sharma, had also rejected the findings outrightly. “Women are very aware in India of issues and there is no way that we could be ranked number 1 in such a survey. The countries that have been ranked after India have women who are not even allowed to speak in public,” Sharma was quoted as saying in a PTI report. She did not name the country she was referring to.
Attacking the government over the reports, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, “While our PM tiptoes around his garden making Yoga videos, India leads Afghanistan, Syria & Saudi Arabia in rape & violence against women. What a shame for our country!”
According to the survey, crimes against women in India rose by more than 80 per cent between 2007 and 2016. Nearly 40,000 rapes were reported in 2016 despite a greater focus on women’s safety after the fatal gangrape of a student in New Delhi in 2012 that sparked nationwide protests and led to tougher laws against sexual abuse.
The survey was a repeat of a 2011 poll that found Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India, and Somalia as the most dangerous countries for women.