Beyond the Numbers: What the NARI 2025 Report Reveals About Women's Safety in India
The highly anticipated National Annual Report & Index on Women's Safety (NARI) 2025 has been released, and its findings paint a complex picture of safety in urban India. Going beyond official crime data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), this landmark report surveyed over 12,770 women across 31 major cities to capture their lived experiences and perceptions of safety.
While the report acknowledges initiatives like women's helplines and increased police presence, it highlights a stark reality: what is safe on paper is often not safe in life. A national safety score of 65% was assigned, but the study reveals a significant 40% of women still feel "not so safe" or "unsafe" in their cities.
The Safest Cities for Women in India
The NARI 2025 report identified a number of cities that have excelled in creating a secure environment for women. These cities often score high on a combination of factors, including gender equity, effective policing, strong civic participation, and women-friendly infrastructure.
The top-ranked cities for women's safety are:
- Kohima
- Visakhapatnam
- Bhubaneswar
- Aizawl
- Gangtok
- Itanagar
- Mumbai
The inclusion of multiple cities from India's North-East region is a significant finding, suggesting that a holistic approach to safety is highly effective. Mumbai is the only metropolitan city to make it into the top seven, demonstrating that a city's scale does not necessarily correlate with lower safety.
The Least Safe Cities for Women
At the other end of the spectrum, the report identified cities where women's safety remains a major concern. These cities often struggle with weaker institutional responses, patriarchal norms, and significant gaps in urban infrastructure.
The cities ranked as the least safe are:
- Patna
- Jaipur
- Faridabad
- Delhi
- Kolkata
- Srinagar
- Ranchi
The presence of major metropolitan hubs like Delhi and Kolkata on this list is particularly alarming. While these cities may have lower crime rates in official records, the NARI report shows that the day-to-day experience of harassment and the fear of crime are widespread. This "trust deficit" in authorities, with only one in four women feeling confident that a complaint would be effectively handled, is a key contributing factor.
Important nuance: NARI is perception-led and complements crime statistics; it highlights gaps between what’s “on paper” and women’s daily realities—especially around harassment in transit, last-mile connectivity, lighting, and responsiveness of authorities.
How NARI 2025 measured safety (in brief)
- Four-tier city grading (well above / above / below / well below benchmark).
- Themes covered: day vs night safety, commute and last-mile, policing, CCTV & lighting, reporting experience, and institutional trust.
- Why it matters: Perception affects women’s mobility, jobs, nightlife, and overall participation in urban life—so closing the perception–reality gap is a policy priority.
What the findings mean for cities and citizens
- Urban design & transit: better street lighting, active night-time transport, and safe last-mile links are recurring differentiators in top cities.
- Trust & redressal: increasing reporting confidence (faster FIRs, survivor-centric helpdesks, online tracking) can move the needle quickly.
- Community & bystander culture: awareness campaigns and quick-response systems (SOS apps integrated with local control rooms) matter as much as formal policing.
Actionable takeaways for residents & administrators
- Night audits of lighting and CCTV coverage on key corridors.
- Safer public transport: women-only coaches/zones where justified, trained marshals, and verified cab stands at hubs.
- Faster complaint loops: single-window helplines mapped to police and municipal systems; transparent case tracking.
- Campus & workplace safety: POSH awareness refreshers, secure parking, and escorted late-evening exits.
Key Findings and Recommendations
The NARI 2025 report delves deeper than just city rankings, revealing crucial insights into the state of women's safety in urban India.
- The Unreported Reality: A staggering two out of three women who face harassment do not report it to authorities. This means that official crime data misses the vast majority of incidents, creating a misleadingly positive picture.
- Safety Plummets at Night: While 86% of women feel safe in schools and colleges during the day, this perception drops sharply at night, especially in public transport and recreational spaces.
- Harassment Hotspots: Neighborhoods and public transport were cited as the primary hotspots for harassment, with a shocking 14% of women under 24 reporting an incident in the past year.
- Workplace vs. Reality: A promising 91% of women felt safe at their workplaces, yet nearly half admitted they were unsure if their company had a Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) policy, highlighting a disconnect between perception and legal compliance.
- A Holistic View: The report stresses that safety is not just a law-and-order issue. It involves four key dimensions: physical, psychological, financial, and digital.
The NARI 2025 report serves as a wake-up call for urban planners, policymakers, and communities across India. It underscores that a city is truly safe only when women can move freely, pursue their ambitions without restraint, and live without fear. It calls for an urgent shift from focusing solely on crime statistics to addressing the daily, lived realities of women.
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