The report, The World's Most Dangerous Countries For Women 2018, released Monday by TRF put India ahead of countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and Saudi Arabia.
The Centre on Tuesday rubbished a report released by Thomson Reuters Foundations (TRF) that said that India tops the list of most unsafe countries for women when it comes to sexual violence and human trafficking. The report, The World's Most Dangerous Countries For Women 2018, released Monday by TRF put India ahead of countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan was the 6th most dangerous country for women.
While the National Commission for Women (NCW) issued a circular saying that the sample size of the survey, which was 500-odd women, was not representative of a country the size of India with 1.3 billion people. "Women in India are aware of their legal rights and the procedure and method of access to the legal system more than ever before. Some of the countries that have been ranked after India have women who are not even allowed to speak in public," said NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma.
Officials from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, too rejected the report, but did not come on record while rejecting the findings. Officials said that the report was rejected on the grounds that the methodology was based on the perceptions of respondents, and there was no data provided to back the findings.
"We contacted 548 experts focused on women's issues including aid and development professionals, academics, health workers, policymakers, non-government organisation workers, journalists, and social commentators," read the TFR report. The body asked respondents to name the five most dangerous countries from the 193 United Nations member states, and also asked them to name the worst country in six categories including healthcare, discrimination, cultural traditions, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, and human trafficking.
A political row broke out over the report with Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeting, "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! (sic)."
The Survey
Thomson Reuters Foundations’ focus group included 548 experts on women’s issues, including aid and development professionals, academics, health workers, etc.
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