Bengaluru offers women safer public spaces than Delhi, yet fear persists (AI image used for representational purpose only)
The study, The City Through Her Eyes , surveyed more than 4,000 women in public spaces in Bengaluru and Delhi. It found that nearly one in three women in Bengaluru experienced harassment in the past year, compared with about six in 10 in Delhi. About 14% of women surveyed in Bengaluru reported experiences such as groping, stalking or sexual assault, compared with 41% in Delhi. fear of such incidents remained considerably higher Although only around 0.2% of women in Bengaluru and 2.1% in Delhi reported sexual assault in the past year. About 25% of women in Bengaluru and 46% in Delhi expressed concern about the possibility of sexual assault. Around 76-80% of incidents occurred between 5am and 8pm, indicating that women can face harassment during ordinary daytime activities as well.
Because of concerns about harassment, while reported incidents of harassment are lower in the city, many women continue to alter their work, social and everyday choices. BENGALURU: Bengaluru may offer women a safer public environment than Delhi, but a new study suggests that safety on paper does not necessarily translate into a life free from fear. The gap becomes sharper when severe forms of harassment are considered. One of the study’s striking findings is that women’s perception of danger is not determined only by how often serious incidents occur. The findings also challenge the perception that harassment is primarily an after-dark problem.
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Among non-student women in Bengaluru, 68% said fear of harassment was important in deciding whether to work, while 84% said it influenced decisions about where to work. The corresponding figures in Delhi were 71% and 87%. In Bengaluru, 21% of women said fear of harassment limited their social activities, while 17% said it affected routine chores and self-care. In Delhi, the corresponding figures were substantially higher, at 71% and 54%.
The findings suggest that measuring women’s safety only through reported crimes may miss a significant part of the picture. The impact of harassment extends into the workplace, with women reporting that safety concerns influence not only whether they work but also where they choose to work. Safety concerns can also limit women’s participation in everyday life. Even when serious incidents are relatively rare, the fear of becoming a victim can influence where women go, how they travel, whether they work and how freely they participate in social life. The study, by Lori Beaman, Seema Jayachandran and Anisha Sharma, thus points to a distinction between being statistically safer and actually feeling safe — a distinction that can have a profound impact on women’s freedom and choices.