Odisha capital Bhubaneswar emerges as safest city for women in India: Report

Bhubaneswar has made headlines as the safest city for women in India, according to the National Annual Report and Index 2025. Released by National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar, the report highlights the city’s growing reputation for safety and inclusivity for women.

Other cities ranked among the safest for women include Kohima, Visakhapatnam, Aizawl, Gangtok, Itanagar and Mumbai. On the other hand, Ranchi, Srinagar, Kolkata, Delhi, Faridabad, Patna, and Jaipur have been identified as the most unsafe cities for women.

"Bhubaneswar, Kohima, Vishakhapatnam, Aizawl, Gangtok, Itanagar, Mumbai lead national safety rankings, often correlating with higher gender equity, infrastructure, policing, or civic participation, while Ranchi, Srinagar, Kolkata, Delhi, Faridabad, Patna, and Jaipur scored lowest, correlating with poorer infrastructure, patriarchal norms, or weaker institutional responsiveness," the report said.

Overall, six in ten women surveyed felt ‘safe’ in their city, but 40 per cent still considered themselves ‘not so safe’ or ‘unsafe.’ The study revealed sharp drops in perceptions of safety at night, particularly in public transport and recreational spaces. Educational institutions (86 per cent safe) are especially safe in daylight, but safety perceptions fall sharply at night or off-campus.

The findings cite a lack of safety infrastructure, inadequate street lighting, and shortcomings in public transport facilities as major reasons behind the unsafe perception in several urban centres.

The nationwide index released on Thursday, based on a survey of 12,770 women across 31 cities, placed the national safety score at 65 per cent, categorising cities as ‘much above’, ‘above’, ‘below’ or ‘much below’ this benchmark.

About 91 per cent of women reported safety, yet about half were unclear if their workplace had a POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) policy; those with such policies generally rated them as effective.

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Only one-fourth of women said they trusted authorities to act effectively on safety complaints. While 69 per cent said current safety efforts were somewhat adequate, over 30 per cent noted significant gaps or failures; only 65 per cent perceived real improvement over the years 2023-2024.

Seven per cent of women said they experienced harassment in public spaces in 2024, with the figure doubling to 14 per cent among those under 24.
Neighbourhoods (38 per cent) and public transport (29 per cent) were most often flagged as harassment hotspots. Yet, only one in three victims came forward to report the incidents. The report stressed that official crime data alone cannot reflect women's lived reality.

"Two out of three women do not report harassment, meaning NCRB misses the bulk of incidents," the study said, calling for integration of crime data with perception-based surveys like NARI.

Launching the report, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar said safety cannot be seen merely as a law-and-order issue but as one that affects "every aspect of a woman's life, whether it is her education, health, work opportunities, and freedom of movement".

She added that when women feel unsafe, "they limit themselves, and women limiting themselves is not only for their own development, but also for the development of the country". She emphasised that a safe environment was crucial for building a "developed and inclusive India," pointing to four dimensions of women's security of physical, psychological, financial, and digital nature.

"Cybercrime and misuse of personal data threaten women every day, and we must strengthen protections in this space. It is our responsibility to protect women not just from crimes on the streets but also from cybercrimes, economic discrimination, and mental harassment," Rahatkar noted.

Highlighting positive measures, she praised the growing presence of women police officers and female drivers in public transport as effective confidence-building steps.

"In many union territories, 33 per cent of police personnel are now women, and this has made a decisive difference in building trust," she said.

She also lauded initiatives such as women's helplines, CCTV coverage in smart cities, and improved safety networks at railway stations and bus depots.

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At the same time, Rahatkar urged society at large to share responsibility.

"We often blame the system, but we must also ask what we have done. Whether it is using helplines, supporting awareness drives, or simply keeping public toilets clean, society's role is equally important," she said.

Noting that women's safety is not just about protection from harassment and violence, Rahatkar said it is also about ensuring equal opportunities, equal wages, and a dignified environment at work.
The NARI index has been conceived by Pvalue Analytics, the NorthCap University, and Jindal Global Law School and is published by the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians (GIA).