NARI 2025 reveals 40% of women in urban India feel unsafe, highlighting urgent safety concerns in cities (Freepik)
The National Annual Report and Index on Women's Safety (NARI 2025) offers a far grimmer picture. By surveying over 12,770 women across 31 Indian cities and it found that 40% of urban women feel not so safe or unsafe.
The importance lies in the contrast between the recorded crimes and personal experience. While limited numbers are indicated by the NCRB's 2022 data, NARI notes that 7% of women considered harassment as such in 2024, with young women in the 18-24 years range being the most vulnerable. These figures illustrate just that many instances of harassment never enter the official records.
The report explained that harassment does not only pertain to extreme incidents, but to staring, catcalling, lewd remarks and unwelcome touching in public. Respondents articulated that poor electricity source, potholes, dimly lit streets and the unreliability of public transportation only worsened their feelings of insecurity.
City rankings reveal like Delhi, Kolkata, Ranchi, Srinagar and Faridabad were lousily ranked among the least safe, while Mumbai, Kohima, Visakhapatnam, Aizawl, Bhubaneswar, Gangtok and Itanagar were considered better havens for women, from an otherwise reliable perspective.
A vital aspect highlighted by NARI 2025 concerns the underreporting of crimes and Only 22% of the surveyed women reported their experiences to the authorities. The rest-maintained silence, because of fear, stigma, victim blame or being allegedly subjected to harassment.
The problem stretches into workplaces, with over half 53% of women unsure whether their employers do have a POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) policy, which is mandatory by law. These gaps not only signify poor implementation but also indicate a lack of awareness about one's legal rights and support mechanisms.
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Inaugurated in Delhi by Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, the report stated that women should be safe in their homes, workplaces, public spaces and on digital platforms. Prahallad Rout, MD of Pvalue Analytics, termed the findings a clarion call to action dovetailing with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
To the credit of the Indian state, it is clear that women's safety must measure not in terms of crime data but as an appraisal of their lived experience. Bridging the gulf would require not only stronger laws and enforcement, but also infrastructural facilities, sensitization of the police, workplace accountability and awareness from the community.
NARI 2025, reminding us that safety is not a privilege but a right, will be the fulcrum around which safer cities for women will ensure the progressive nation.
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