Poll saying India most dangerous for women based on opinion, not data: Modi government

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has dismissed the findings of a recent study that proclaimed India as the most dangerous country in the world for women. Rejecting the study by Thomson Reuters, titled ‘The world’s most dangerous countries for women 2018’, the ministry said that the proclamation is based on an opinion poll rather than any report or data.

A statement by the ministry said, "Ranking is based on a perception poll based on responses to simply six questions and has been conducted with 548 respondents, which have been defined by Reuters as ‘experts focused on women’s issues’. However, no information or opinion has been sought from this Ministry."

Earlier, the National Commission for Women (NCW) had also rejected the survey, saying the number of people surveyed could in no way reflect the state of affairs in a country of 1.3 billion people. It also asserted that there could be no doubt that India is far ahead of a number of countries in terms of women's rights.

"The Commission rejects the survey in question. For a nation as big as India, with a population of approximately 1.3 billion, the sample size of the survey is not representative of the country as a whole," read a statement from the NCW.

On Tuesday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of women’s safety, citing the findings of the survey. The Gandhi scion took to microblogging site Twitter to says that it’s “a shame” that the survey found India to be leading in rape cases and violence against women.

"While our PM tiptoes around his garden making Yoga videos, India leads Afghanistan, Syria and Saudi Arabia in rape and violence against women. What a shame for our country!" Rahul Gandhi had tweeted.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation poll has claimed that India is the most dangerous country in the world with high risk of menace like rape and human trafficking. The study further talks about India reporting maximum cases of forced marriage and sexual slavery.

According to the report, India is the most dangerous country in the world for “cultural traditions that impact women”. It referred to incidents of acid attacks, female genital mutilation and child marriage.