Growing Women Harassment – Need of Effective Policies in India

What this session covered

This session was a moderated panel discussion with three participants — a women's rights activist and child-protection practitioner, a retired director general of police, and a senior police officer specialising in corporate security — examining the prevalence of harassment against women in India and the adequacy of the policy response. The panel described harassment as cutting across every class and every setting, taking in domestic, economic, verbal and sexual abuse in homes, workplaces and public transport, and panellists concurred that there is no space women can confidently call safe. Much of the problem was traced to internalised patriarchy, which leaves many women unable to recognise controlling behaviour or economic abuse as violence at all. One speaker cited a rise of more than 87 per cent in registered crime against women between 2011 and 2022, while stressing that stigma, family pressure and the absence of anywhere to turn mean substantial under-reporting conceals the true scale.

A large part of the discussion was a critique of the criminal-justice chain. One speaker argued that women's reluctance to approach police stations is justified, pointing to non-registration of cases, the trivialisation of complaints within a male-dominated police subculture, and the near non-use of the penal provision introduced after the 2013 criminal-law amendments to sanction officers who fail to act. One speaker also described free legal aid as inexperienced and under-resourced and statutory interim-protection timelines as going unmet in practice, while emergency helpline responses were criticised in the discussion as insensitive. One speaker noted that convictions had fallen by 28 per cent even as registrations rose, arguing that without certainty of punishment there can be no deterrence; the same speaker recounted a period in Uttar Pradesh when acid attacks were prosecuted as attempted murder, with the National Security Act also invoked, which he said was followed by almost no such attacks in the state for around two years, and recalled having once proposed chemical castration for gang rapists during criminal-law reform consultations, a suggestion regarded at the time as too radical.

On remedies, panellists called for structural rather than piecemeal change: an overhaul of registration, investigation and prosecution; greater representation of women across the police, prosecution and judiciary; formal convergence between police stations, courts, legal-services authorities and rights-based civil-society organisations; and speedier, time-bound disposal of cases, including consideration of mobile courts. Prevention, speakers argued, must begin earlier — parents raising sons and daughters by the same rules, schools restoring moral and personality education, and men actively challenging harassment when they witness it — with media, religious leaders and politicians also assigned responsibility for reshaping attitudes. Practical advice offered to women included trusting one's intuition, keeping trusted friends informed of one's whereabouts and not hesitating to call for help; emergency helplines and safety applications were judged useful but in need of considerable improvement.

Key points raised

• The panel described harassment of women as pervasive across all classes and settings, with homes, workplaces and public transport all named as unsafe spaces.
• One speaker cited a rise of more than 87 per cent in registered crime against women between 2011 and 2022, alongside substantial under-reporting driven by stigma and lack of support.
• One speaker called women's reluctance to report to the police justified, citing non-registration of cases, trivialisation of complaints and the near non-use of the provision for sanctioning delinquent officers.
• One speaker argued that a 28 per cent fall in convictions undermines deterrence, pressing for certainty of punishment through overhauled investigation and prosecution.
• Remedies discussed included more women across the police, prosecution and judiciary, formal convergence with rights-based NGOs, time-bound disposal of cases and mobile courts.
• Prevention was located in education: raising sons and daughters by the same rules, moral instruction in schools, and men, media, religious leaders and politicians challenging patriarchal attitudes.