Every year, on December 10, the world celebrates Human Rights Day to mark the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in 1948. But even as we pledge allegiance to dignity and equality for all, women across India continue to live with fear, inequality, and suffer routine violations of their most basic rights. On June 23 this year, the US State Department issued a Level-2 advisory for travellers to India, urging women not to travel alone and noting that “rape is one of the fastest growing crimes in India.” Even though the US is no benchmark for gender equality, this is still cause for looking within.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2023 alone India recorded 4.5 lakh crimes against women. These crimes occur across every space: on streets, at workplaces, in schools and colleges, on public transport, online, and even inside homes. These figures reflect only reported cases; the true numbers are likely much higher. Human rights cannot be celebrated meaningfully if half the population remains unsafe in places where they should experience freedom, comfort, and dignity.
One of our biggest challenges is that violence against women is not seen as exceptional, it is treated as part of social norms. According to the latest National Family Health Survey data, nearly one in three married women have experienced violence from an intimate partner. Even more disturbing is the persistence of social acceptance: around 45.4% of women and 44% of men surveyed justify wife-beating under certain circumstances. These numbers reflect a mindset fundamentally opposed to women gaining autonomy, over their bodies, choices, movement, or decisions. The same mindset dismisses domestic abuse as a “family matter”, workplace harassment as “misunderstanding”, and public harassment as “inevitable”. Emotional and financial abuse often never enters crime statistics, yet remains rampant and deeply destructive.
India has some of the strongest legal protections in the world: from the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, to POCSO, to workplace harassment laws under the POSH Act, and expanded definitions of sexual violence post-2013. However, even though they are essential, legal protections are never enough on their own. This is because those in charge of enforcing these regulations often possess the same gender biases.
Police complaints are difficult for Indian women to file, and they are often advised to “compromise.” Even after years of court proceedings, conviction rates are still low. Medical and forensic systems are inconsistent and frequently insufficient, especially in rural and smaller towns. There are risks associated with reporting violence, including emotional trauma, loss of employment, and social rejection.
The theme for this year’s UNiTE Campaign for the 16 Days of Activism is ‘End Digital Violence Against All Women and Girls.’ This could not be more relevant for India. Deepfakes, doxxing, impersonation, non-consensual sharing of images, and online blackmail have increased sharply, targeting women across age groups. For many girls and young women, the internet is a gateway to opportunity, but also a site of fear. Women celebrities are being increasingly targeted with deepfakes. Online violence not only pushes women out of the public sphere and limits educational and career opportunities, it can also be deadly. Recently, a girl ended her life after her AI-generated nudes were circulated in West Bengal. Digital violence, often trivialized as a joke, is perhaps the biggest threat to the equalising potential of the internet age.
As India seeks global leadership, millions of its women are unable to exercise basic rights: to safety, mobility, education, reproductive choice, property, or equal opportunity.
Women’s rights are human rights, and they cannot be applied selectively. A society cannot call itself just if women must negotiate for dignity at every step, whether seeking contraception, reporting workplace harassment, accessing safe public transport, or simply walking home after work.
We need to acknowledge that gender-based violence is more than just a criminal justice problem. Additionally, it needs to be handled as a public health emergency.
Three parallel shifts are required to make rights real.
First, the needs of survivors must be prioritized by the police, courts, medical professionals, and social services. The system could be completely changed by making law enforcement and the judiciary more sensitive to gender issues. We can increase access to medical care and mental health services by training health professionals, particularly ASHAs and ANMs, who frequently serve as a link between communities and public health systems. Additionally, they can assist with recording evidence and directing survivors to resources for support.
Second, zero-tolerance policies against gender-based violence and discrimination are required in workplaces, schools, universities, political parties, hospitals, media outlets, and religious organizations.
Many organizations continue to minimize harassment, shield powerful offenders, and even punish women who speak out. Gender-based violence flourishes because of this social and legal impunity.
Third, unless we address the social norms that encourage violence, no policy will be successful. Early prevention measures include teaching boys the values of consent and respect, encouraging gender equality in families, encouraging communities to reject toxic masculinity, and having men share caregiving, reproductive health, and emotional labor responsibilities.
After every horrific case, even fleeting indignation has become the norm. We must confront difficult realities, sometimes even in our own homes, if we are to genuinely effect change. We need to challenge “common sense,” modernize antiquated systems, and create a society where women can live freely rather than cautiously.
About the author(s)
Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India, has for over 40 years been a strong advocate for women’s health, reproductive and sexual rights, and rural livelihoods. She has co-conceived the popular transmedia initiative, Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon – I, A Woman, Can Achieve Anything. Before joining PFI, she served as the India Country Director of the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation for 15 years and has also co-founded and led the Ashoka Foundation, Dastkar, and the Society for Rural, Urban and Tribal Initiative (SRUTI). An alumna of Delhi University and Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government, Poonam serves on the governing council of several non-governmental organisations, and is a regular commentator in India and globally for television and the print media.
