Gangtok, 30th August: Kohima, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Aizawl, Gangtok, Itanagar and Mumbai have been ranked as the safest cities for women in India, while Patna, Jaipur, Faridabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Srinagar and Ranchi were placed at the bottom, according to the National Annual Report and Index on Women’s Safety (NARI) 2025.
The nationwide index, released on August 28, 2025, surveyed 12,770 women across 31 cities. It gave the country an overall safety score of 65%. “Kohima, Vishakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Aizawl, Gangtok, Itanagar, and Mumbai lead national safety rankings, often correlating with higher gender equity, infrastructure, policing, or civic participation while Ranchi, Srinagar, Kolkata, Delhi, Faridabad, Patna, and Jaipur scored lowest, correlating with poorer infrastructure, patriarchal norms, or weaker institutional responsiveness,” the report said.
While six in ten women said they felt “safe” in their city, 40% reported feeling “not so safe” or “unsafe.” Concerns were highest at night, especially in public transport and recreational areas. Educational institutions were seen as relatively safe during the day, but confidence fell after dark. The report also found that only one-fourth of women trusted authorities to act on complaints, and two out of three incidents of harassment went unreported.
Launching the report, NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar stressed that safety is not only a law-and-order issue but affects “every aspect of a woman’s life, whether it is her education, health, work opportunities or freedom of movement.” She warned that when women feel unsafe, “they limit themselves, and women limiting themselves is not only for their own development, but also for the development of the country.”
Ms. Rahatkar also called for stronger protections against cybercrime, economic discrimination and mental harassment. She welcomed the rise of women police officers and female drivers in public transport as confidence-building measures, while urging society to take equal responsibility. “We often blame the system, but we must also ask what we have done,” she said.
The NARI index has been developed by Pvalue Analytics, The NorthCap University and Jindal Global Law School, and published by the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians (GIA).
