NARI 2025: Four Northeast capitals among safest cities for women in India
Top-ranked cities, including Kohima, Aizawl, Itanagar & Gangtok, excel in gender equity and public safety, says report
A still from Ima Keithel (Mother’s Market) in Imphal, Manipur — Asia’s largest all-women market. (Photo: @DoctorAjayita / X)
New Delhi, August 28: Kohima, Aizawl, Itanagar, and Gangtok have emerged as the safest cities for women in India, according to the National Annual Report & Index on Women's Safety (NARI) 2025, released on Thursday.
The report, based on a survey of 12,770 women across 31 cities, ranked these Northeast cities alongside Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, and Mumbai at the top of the national safety index.
The index assigned a national safety benchmark of 65%, categorising cities as “much above”, “above”, “at”, “below”, or “much below” this figure.
Top-ranked cities, including the Northeast capitals, were credited for stronger gender equity, civic participation, policing, and women-friendly infrastructure, the report said.
At the lower end of the spectrum, cities such as Patna, Jaipur, Faridabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Srinagar, and Ranchi fared poorly due to weak institutional responsiveness, entrenched patriarchal norms, and infrastructural gaps.
The survey revealed that while six in ten women felt safe in their cities, 40% still considered themselves “not so safe” or “unsafe”, with perceptions of risk particularly acute at night, on public transport, and in recreational spaces.
Safety in educational institutions remained relatively high during the day (86%), but dropped sharply at night or off-campus.
Workplace safety remains a concern - about half of the women surveyed were unsure if their workplaces had a POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) policy, although those with policies generally found them effective.
Only one-fourth of women trusted authorities to act effectively on safety complaints. While 69% considered current safety measures somewhat adequate, over 30% noted significant gaps, with only 65% perceiving improvement from 2023-24.
Harassment in public spaces was reported by 7% of women in 2024, doubling to 14% among those under 24. Neighbourhoods (38%) and public transport (29%) were identified as frequent harassment hotspots.
However, only one in three victims reported these incidents to authorities, highlighting the limitations of official crime data, the report said.
“Two out of three women do not report harassment, meaning NCRB data misses the bulk of incidents,” the study noted, advocating for the integration of crime data with perception-based surveys like NARI.
Launching the report, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar said that women’s safety is not merely a law-and-order issue but affects education, health, work opportunities, and freedom of movement.
Rahatkar highlighted physical, psychological, financial, and digital security as four key dimensions of women’s safety.
She praised initiatives such as increased women police personnel (33% in some Union Territories), female drivers in public transport, women’s helplines, CCTV coverage, and improved safety networks at railway stations and bus depots as effective confidence-building measures.
At the same time, she emphasised societal responsibility, “We often blame the system, but we must also ask what we have done — whether using helplines, supporting awareness drives, or simply keeping public toilets clean.”
The NARI index was conceived by The NorthCap University and Jindal Global Law School, and is published by the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians (GIA).
PTI