India's 9% women "experienced" rape, 21% physical sexual assault, 38% sexual comments, 79% harassment

By Our Representative
A survey of four countries – United Kingdom, Thailand, Brazil and India – has found that nine per cent of city women have “experienced” rape in India, which is equal to a similar assault suffered by women in Thailand. As for the other two countries under survey, UK and Brazil, two and eight per cent respectively said they have “experienced” rape.
The survey, sponsored by Action Aid, a multinational advocacy group, further says that 21 per cent of Indian women complained that they faced “another form of physical sexual assault”. This is against 18 per cent in Thailand, 15 per cent in Brazil and six per cent in UK.

Carried out by YouGov, a UK-based firm, the survey has further found that 79 per cent of women in India and Thailand have experienced “harassment”, as against 86 per cent in Brazil and 74 per cent in UK. Further, 43 per cent of women in India and Thailand experienced “insult/calling names”, as against 39 per cent each in UK and Brazil.
The survey has further found that 44 per cent of women in India have experienced “wolf whistling”, as against 53 per cent in Thailand, 54 per cent in UK, and 77 per cent in Brazil.

Also, 38 per cent of women in India experienced sexual comments, as against 57 per cent in Brazil, 40 per cent in UK and 24 per cent in Thailand. And, finally, 62 per cent of women in India and Thailand experienced “staring”, as against 74 per cent in Brazil and 49 per cent in UK.
In all, the research has found that three in four women have been subjected to harassment and violence in cities across the world.

Action Aid, UK, has described the situation as an "epidemic". The research has been launched ahead of the charity’s International Safe Cities for Women Day, in a bid to tackle the urban violence that women and girls struggle with globally.
Sarah Carson, ActionAid's Women's Rights Campaign Manager, has been quoted as saying: “It is appalling and unacceptable that this is happening in cities around the world…"

She adds, "No matter who she is or where she lives, no woman has to live in fear of violence or harassment in her city.”
Carson further says: “Behind every statistic are real women. Women who have been raped in their homes in the slums of Delhi, women in Brazil who fear the drug traffickers who dominate and control their neighbourhoods, and garment workers in Cambodia and Thailand who are abused and harassed in and around their work place.”

Details of the survey say, in Britain, 43 per cent of women polled said they felt at risk of harassment on city streets and 36 per cent felt at risk travelling on public transport. However, 70 per cent of women in the North East and 72 per cent in London respectively felt at risk of harassment in their cities - both figures are much higher than the average of 67 per cent across the country.

In Brazil, 55 per cent of women, aged between 18 and 24, said that they had been harassed at public or community events.

The survey also shows that 22 per cent of women in Brazil who did not complete secondary school education had been raped, in comparison to two per cent of women with a professional qualification.

Across cities in Thailand older women were also at risk. The survey revealed that 20 per cent of the women aged 55 and over had been raped - almost double the number of rapes among women aged between 18 and 24 (11 per cent).
In North India, according to the survey, 89 per cent of women said they had experienced harassment of some sort, with 50 per cent experiencing unwanted bodily or physical contact of a sexual nature.
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For data source click HERE

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