Crimes against women increase 17% in the country: Govt tells Rajya Sabha
While 378236 crimes against women took place took place in 2018, the numbers shot up to 445256 in 2022
Crimes against women in the country have increased by over 17 per cent between 2018 and 2022, the Ministry of Women and Child Development informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (July 23). The statistics were shared by the Minister of State (MoS), Women and Child Development, Savitri Thakur, in a written reply.
Over 4.45 lakh crimes in 2022
As per the statistics shared by the MoS, while 378236 crimes against women took place took place in 2018, the numbers shot up to 445256 in 2022. It further reveals that 2019 witnessed 405326 of such crimes, 371503 took place in 2020, followed by 428278 in 2021.
As for the statistics regarding the nature of crimes against women, cases of cruelty by husband or his relatives occupied the top slot with 140019 instances, followed by kidnapping and abduction of women with 85310. The third spot was occupied by assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty, with 83344 cases.
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UP occupies top slot
As for the states and Union Territories, Thakur stated that the highest number of such cases took place in Uttar Pradesh (65743), followed by Maharashtra (65743) and Madhya Pradesh (32765).
“ ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. Responsibility to maintain law and order and protection of life and property of the citizens and investigation and prosecution of crime against women rests primarily with the respective State Governments; they are legally competent to deal with such crimes,” stated Thakur.
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Steps taken by govt
She further stated that, among other reasons, the increased reporting of crime can be attributed to the increased level of awareness among citizens due to various measures taken by government in the last few years, including the operationalisation of various helplines.
The MoS further stated that several steps have been taken by the government to increase the safety of women and girls including the enactment of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), the launching of the SHe-Box portal for duly encompassing various provisions of ‘the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 and setting up of 14,658 Women Help Desks (WHDs) of which 13,743 are headed by women police officers.