Sexual harassment is one of the major issues affecting India today, and while a significant number of cases go unreported, many women do not report abuse or attacks because police behavior towards victims is poor, and many of the cases that are reported get lost in the system.

The response of the police to many rape victims is appalling—many reports from victims are ignored (such as the 2011 case in Lakhni village that would have been ignored if villagers had not protested). And the recent news that the rapists of the Mumbai photojournalist also raped four ragpickers only showcases how inefficiently the police respond to rape cases when it is not a headliner. When the first line of help for rape victims is so poor, rapists may be encouraged by the fact that they can act with impunity.

Clearly, proper police response to victims of sexual violence is crucial to the safety of women and to bring criminals to justice.

Police officers must be properly trained to handle sexual harassment and rape cases. This includes sensitivity training by qualified counselors.

Officers must not intimidate victims, imply they are lying when filing a report, or assume that any behavior (such as sex outside marriage, drinking in a bar without an escort, use of bad language, or wearing immodest clothing) resulted in the harassment or rape. Officers should be trained not to place blame on the victim but rather on the attacker.

In addition, officers should take harassment and rape reports very seriously and take all the necessary steps to allow the victim to file a report and to arrest the criminals within 48 hours of the initial report.

When officers do not believe, intimidate or mock victims, regardless of societal standards or individual efforts to prevent attacks, no woman is safe.