NEW DELHI: The government has rejected an “opinion poll” by Thomson Reuters Foundation that said India is the most dangerous country for women, saying the conclusion is not based on any data but solely on subjective opinion.

With the report — which names India as more unsafe than strife-hit Syria and Iraq where violence against women is endemic, or deeply conservative Saudi Arabia with its discriminatory laws — sparking a major furore, the government said the poll uses a “flawed methodology” to present an erroneous picture.

The women and child development ministry, in a detailed statement, questioned the reliability of the poll since the foundation has not revealed any information on the 548 respondents consulted, who are said to be “experts on women’s issues”.

Despite data to the contrary, the usage of an opinion poll... is clearly an effort to malign the nation,” the ministry said in a statement. The government has said that the report has, in fact, ignored relevant data. The government said there is visible progress on women’s rights. There has been a reduction in child marriage over the years, with reports of marriage in the age group of 0-9 years now being nil.

“Further, the percentage of women in the age group of 15-19 years who were already mothers or pregnant has dropped from 16% in 2005-06 to 7.9% in 2015-16,” it said. The ministry referred to National Crime Records Bureau data to point that “38,947 cases of rape have been registered in 2016. In the year 2014 and 2015, 36,735 and 34,651 cases were reported. The increase in reporting is a result of the favourable environment for women to access police authorities”.

It further pointed out that rape statistics in India are 0.03 per 1,000 population whereas US has reported a much higher figure of 1.2 rapes. “Cases of acid attack are only incidental in the country and practices of stoning, female genital mutilation are not seen here. India, thus, cannot possibly be the worst in the world in terms of violence,” the ministry said.

TOI reported on Tuesday that the survey ranks India as more dangerous for women than war-torn Afghanistan or the west Asia. A total of 548 global experts on women’s issues, 43 of whom are based in India, were asked questions relating to risks faced by women. The foundation includes “policy-makers” among respondents. “However, no information or opinion has been sought from this ministry regarding this poll,” it is stated.

“The six questions posed as part of the poll cannot fairly be applied to all countries. For example, the age bar for defining child marriage is different in every country,” the ministry has explained. It is pointed that since the December 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case, laws have been passed that recognise specific offences and provide for punishment and fast-track courts.

“As per the Sample Registration Survey released in June 2018, India has registered a significant reduction of 22% in maternal mortality ratio since 2013. Further, sex ratio at birth has significantly increased across the country, pointing to a drop in sex selective abortions,” it is stated.

