National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025

National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025 Latest News

The National Annual Report & Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025, released recently, has shed new light through its latest report on how safe Indian cities really are for women.

About National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025

• Released by the National Commission for Women, NARI 2025 offers the telling reality of the urban safety landscape. 
• The report, a collaborative effort by the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians (GIA), Pvalue Analytics, The NorthCap University, and Jindal Global Law School, is based on a survey of 12,770 women across 31 cities in all states.

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Highlights of the National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025

• It placed the national safety score at 65%, categorising cities as “much above”, “above”, “below” or “much below” this benchmark.
• Kohima, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Aizawl, Gangtok, Itanagar, and Mumbai have emerged as the safest cities in the country for women, while Patna, Jaipur, Faridabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Srinagar, and Ranchi were ranked the lowest.
• Kohima and other top-ranked cities were associated with stronger gender equity, civic participation, policing, and women-friendly infrastructure.
• At the other end of the spectrum, cities like Patna and Jaipur fared poorly due to weak institutional responsiveness, patriarchal norms, and gaps in urban infrastructure.
• Overall, six in ten women surveyed felt “safe” in their city, but 40% still considered themselves “not so safe” or “unsafe”. 
• Prevalence of harassment remains high, with 7% women reporting at least one incident of harassment in public spaces in 2024. 
• The highest risk group is women under 24 years of age (14% reported harassment). 
• Verbal harassment was most common (58%), with physical, psychological, economic, and sexual harassment reported less frequently. 
• Neighborhoods (38%) and transport (29%) were the main hotspots for harassment. 
• In terms of response, 28% of women confronted harassers, 25% left the scene, 21% sought safety in crowds, and 20% reported to authorities.
• The study revealed sharp drops in perceptions of safety at night, particularly in public transport and recreational spaces. 
• While 86% of women felt safe in educational institutions during daylight hours, safety perceptions fall sharply at night or off-campus.
• The report shows low levels of faith in the redressal mechanism. 
  • Only one in three victims of harassment filed a formal complaint.
  • Only one in four women expressed confidence that authorities would take effective action on their safety complaints.
  • A concerning 53% were unaware whether their workplaces had a Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) policy in place.
  • Even when incidents are reported, only 22% are formally registered, and action is taken in a mere 16% of those cases.

Source: NIE