The picture that S R Meena, NCRB’s chief statistical officer, paints is of ant India — hostile, ugly and dangerous, particularly for women.

Meena says while compiling the latest set of crime data, he noticed several trends, the most alarming of which is the sharp rise in the number of violent crimes committed against women in India in both rural and urban hemispheres over the last year.

Over the 1999-2000 period, the country has witnessed a sharp upward curve in incidents of torture, molestation and rape.

Molestation, which has grown by almost 15 per cent, is also the single largest crime against women, accounting for 24 per cent of all gender crimes.

Cases of dowry deaths, however, have seen a fall.

“Let’s not say that crimes against women per se are rising,” comments Rebecca Eapen, project coordinator for awareness against sexual harassment for Sakshi, an NGO working on gender sensitisation in the capital.

“Sexual harassment has always been there, it’s just that now more cases are being registered with the police,” she says.

Sakshi, which has undertaken several gender sensitisation workshops in New Delhi’s various schools and colleges, says the city – despite the high awareness levels and an active and vibrant gender equality movement — is still quite far from being a paradise for women.

New Delhi ranks number two in the number of crimes against women, preceded by Chennai at number one, and followed by Mumbai and Bangalore at the third and fourth positions respectively.

“Even now we face difficulties in getting past many school gates - since they aren’t comfortable with the subject. But in those that are open, we do receive a fabulous response,” says Eapen.

Among states, Madhya Pradesh reported the largest number of violent crimes against women and accounts for 13 per cent of the national total. UP is second, with 12.5 per cent of such cases.

Meena points out that because these states are geographically huge, a relatively “low” figure of 12 or 13 per cent doesn’t mean the problem is negligible. “In fact, the actual number of cases would be well beyond several hundreds,” he says.

Well-known gender activist and top cop Kiran Bedi sees this rise through a different perspective — “This indicates that more women are becoming aware and assertive, demanding their rights from the male-dominated household or society, and this is the result.”

She says the numbers will only continue to grow as more and more women become aware of their rights – that they aren’t household commodities to be used and battered by a desensitised male society.

“This also indicates that the police is also acknowledging the problem. The very fact that such cases are being reported is a hopeful sign, that after all these years the law enforcement forces are finally becoming gender sensitive,” she says.

The NCRB report exposes other ghastly truths as well. Last year, India registered 731 cases of rape of girls under the age of 10 years, 2,422 cases for the 11-15-year age group, and 3,849 for the 16-18-year bracket.

Moreover, as many as 87 per cent of rape victims admitted to knowing the offender — they were either neighbours or members of the family.

The solution? While NCRB’s responsibility is to make the nation of exactly where it stands, the rest is up to the authorities, civic society and the masses.

Bedi suggests frank discussions and early sensitisation of boys and girls, not merely at school and colleges, but also at home.

Eapen agrees, adding that counselling or sensitisation can’t happen in isolation.

“We need to involve not only the teachers, but the parents as well,” she says.