But as has been pointed out in Mint earlier , under-reporting of crimes against women hugely distort the reported crime rate in India. In states where public awareness is high and the police pro-active, both overall crime rate and the rate of crime against women turn out to be higher than in other states. The low reported rate of gender crimes in UP is, however, more likely because of the under-reporting effect rather than a relatively higher conviction rate. The problem of sexual harassment is a deep-rooted problem but solving it requires institutional fixes rather than vigilantism or moral policing. “We do notice that this concept of shame has somehow led the police to have an upper hand,” the report said.

Source: Mint March 27, 2017 02:48 UTC