'Situation in many countries worse', says NCW while rejecting report on 'women safety' in India

The NCW chief had yesterday rejected the report, claiming the sample size was small and couldn't be representative of the whole country.

National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma, who on Tuesday (June 26) rejected finding of a survey claiming that India is the world's most dangerous country for women, on Wednesday said "there are many other countries where situation is worse".

The Thomson Reuters Foundation, after a survey of 550 experts on women's issues, ranked India as the most dangerous country for women.

"Yes FIR numbers have increased but I refuse to believe any report which says that India is at top in crimes against women. There are many other countries where situation is worse," Sharma told news agency ANI.

The NCW chief had yesterday rejected the report, claiming the sample size was small and couldn't be representative of the whole country. She had said the countries that have been ranked after India have women who are not even allowed to speak in public.

"For a nation as big as India, the sample size of the survey is not representative of the country as a whole," she said, as pert a PTI report.

"Women are very aware in India of issues and there is no way that we could be ranked number one in such a survey. The countries that have been ranked after India have women who are not even allowed to speak in public," Sharma added.

The poll was a repeat of a survey in 2011 in which Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India, and Somalia were named as the most dangerous countries for women.

The survey asked respondents which five of the 193 UN member states they thought were most dangerous for women and which country was worst in terms of healthcare, economic resources, cultural or traditional practices, sexual violence and harassment, non-sexual violence and human trafficking.

Respondents also ranked India the most dangerous country for women in terms of human trafficking, including sex slavery and domestic servitude, and for customary practices such as forced marriage, stoning and female infanticide, the foundation said in a statement.

There was no official response by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs