The National Annual Report & Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025 has shed new light through its latest report on how safe Indian cities really are for women.
Released on Thursday, the report surveyed 12,770 women across 31 cities and pegged the nationwide safety score at 65 per cent. Cities were ranked into categories ranging from “much above” to “much below” the benchmark, giving a clear picture of urban safety trends for women. The report was launched by National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar. She said that safety cannot be seen merely as a law-and-order issue but as one that affects “every aspect of a woman’s life whether it is her education, health, work opportunities and freedom of movement”.
What does the report say?
While 60 per cent of women surveyed said they feel “safe” in their city, a significant 40 per cent admitted they consider themselves “not so safe” or even “unsafe.” The findings reveal that safety in Indian cities is far from uniform, with gaps that still need urgent attention.
Safety plunges at night and in public transport
The report underlined a steep decline in the perception of safety after dark. Women reported feeling particularly vulnerable while using public transport and visiting recreational spaces at night. Educational institutions, on the other hand, scored relatively high with 86 per cent of women reporting they felt safe — especially during daylight hours. However, confidence dipped drastically once outside the campus or at night.
NARI 2025: List of safest cities for women
- Kohima
- Visakhapatnam
- Bhubaneswar
- Aizawl
- Gangtok
- Itanagar
- Mumbai
Workplaces safer, trust deficit in authorities
Workplaces emerged as comparatively safer spaces, with 91 per cent of women reporting a sense of security. Yet, nearly half of them admitted they were unaware whether their organisations had a Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) policy in place. The NARI 2025 report revealed a concerning trust gap between women and authorities. Only one in four women said they trusted authorities to act effectively on safety complaints. While 69 per cent of respondents felt that current safety measures were “somewhat adequate”, more than 30 per cent flagged major gaps and failures in existing systems.
NARI 2025: Least safest cities for women
- Patna
- Jaipur
- Faridabad
- Delhi
- Kolkata
- Srinagar
- Ranchi
Harassment in public spaces underreported
The report also revealed that seven per cent of women said they experienced harassment in public spaces in 2024, with the figure doubling to 14 per cent among those under 24. Neighbourhoods (38 per cent) and public transport (29 per cent) were most often flagged as harassment hotspots. Yet, only one in three victims came forward to report the incidents. The report stressed that official crime data alone cannot reflect women’s lived reality. “Two out of three women do not report harassment, meaning NCRB misses the bulk of incidents,” the study said, calling for integration of crime data with perception-based surveys like NARI.