India more dangerous for women than Afghanistan, Syria: Survey

Reuters photo

NEW DELHI: India is the world’s most dangerous country for women, says a recent global survey conducted by Thomson Reuters Foundation survey. Afghanistan and Syria ranked on the second and third, followed by Somalia and Saudi Arabia. 

United States made a surprise entry in top 10,  ranking joint third, where women were most at risk of sexual violence, harassment and being coerced into sex.

According to the survey, India emerged as the most unsafe country due to the high risk of sexual violence and being forced into slave labor. Respondents also ranked India the most dangerous country for women in terms of human trafficking, including sex slavery and domestic servitude, and for customary practices such as forced marriage, stoning and female infanticide, reported Reuters.

Even after the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case, not enough has been done to tackle the danger faced by women in India, added the survey. 

Maneka Gandhi-led Ministry of Women and Child Development refused to comment on the survey results.

India, along with Libya and Myanmar, are considered the world’s most dangerous nations for women exploited by human traffickers in a global crime worth an estimated $150 billion a year. 

The poll was reportedly a repeat of a survey in 2011 wherein experts saw Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India and Somalia as the most dangerous nations for women.

With Reuters input